


Salaam Namaste Konichiwa

by The_Hush_Mona_Lisa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A baby - Freeform, A lot of secrets, Adam in a "New Relationship" but still being in love with Shiro, Adashi endgame, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Grief, Insecurities, M/M, Miscommunication, Moving On, Multi, Mystery, No One Telling The Truth, Poor Life Choices, Shadam, Slow Burn, Uncle Keef, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, adashi, broganes, no one saying SORRY, quality bonding time, some smut but not a lot, the paladins finally get to Rest, uncle lance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:26:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15609279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hush_Mona_Lisa/pseuds/The_Hush_Mona_Lisa
Summary: Set after s6, the Paladins arrive back on Earth to find Adam has "moved on", is in another relationship, and has a child, but Adam isn't being entirely honest about what's happening in his life. With everyone stuck in the same house, it doesn't take long for inconsistencies in his story to start coming up and arguments to start. Luckily the paladins are here to "help".Be warned this is gonna be a SUPER SLOW burn.(Updates have been put on pause due to writer and beta undergrad and grad work. Updates will hopefully resume shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience)





	1. You Taste Like A Memory

**Author's Note:**

> This story features some sexually explicit scenes but not many. There is also lying, secrets, and arguments with the purpose of protecting the people they love. This being said, there is also going to be many heartfelt moments and things eventually working out...Eventually, but there will also be a lot of angst.
> 
>  
> 
> This story also features an original character, but trust me, she is just trying her best. Just give her a chance. She's here for a reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all memories are bad memories, but some sure all confusing as hell.
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter is NSFW

Shiro found himself laying on his back, gasping for air. Between his thighs was a young man with brown hair and deep skin, but his face was obscured by his hair. Shiro wanted to reach out to him, wanted to push away his bangs so he could put a face to man kissing his inner thigh, but his forearms were tied together and the man was out of reach. Shiro could only squirm under the kisses and caresses of his mysterious partner, who seemed intimately familiar with his task.

After leaving a few marks on Shiro’s thighs, on spots that Shiro had either forgotten about or hadn't discovered yet, his partner turned their attention to his hard member, that was begging for attention. Shiro watched the man anxiously, hoping to be released in a couple of ways, but also hoping to see the man's face.

Not looking up from Shiro’s cock, the man whispered reverently, “Takashi.” At the sound of his name, Shiro blinked and suddenly found himself in a different position.

Still on his back, his head of off the side of the bed, his hands unbound, and the man's penis filling his mouth and slowly being thrust into his throat.  Shiro panicked for a moment but found his throat didn't feel the same. His throat was relaxed to the gentle motions, and his hands found their way to the hips of the man. He gasped as he felt his own penis be stroked in time with thrusts.

“Shhhh, Kashi. Relax,” one hand on the base Shiro's cock and the other rubbing gentle circles on his stomach and thighs before kissing the tip. Gently and slowly before taking him into their mouth and releasing him again. Shiro whined, he wanted to be touched, he wanted a release.

Then the touches felt far away. The weight of the familiar stranger was gone from his mouth. He found himself wondering when he was untied, and when he was moved to the new position but couldn't find the answer. Everything felt fuzzy and far, like a distance memory.

Or a dream.

And Shiro woke up, aroused and sticky, in the bedchamber the paladins had put together in the Black Lion.

He looks down to see his clothes wet from his semen but he still wasn't satisfied.

‘A ruined orgasm and a wet dream? Been a while since that's happened,’ he thought to himself. He was about to peel the dirty pants off when there was a knock at the door.

“Shiro? We're about to land, do you feel up to getting some air?” Keith stood on the other side, having the basic respect of knocking and not barging in, something Shiro taught him when Keith was still young for this very reason.

“I'll sit this one out, Keith”

“We'll bring back some food for you, alright?" 

“Sure, thanks”

“...No problem.” Shiro could hear Keith walking away. Keith had sounded a bit dejected, probably from not being invited in, but Shiro was occupied with coming up with a plan of how to clean himself off, in a lion with no shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less porn more plot next chapter.
> 
> Comments and Kudos warm my heart! 
> 
> Come say "Hi" to me on [tumblr](https://thehushmonalisa.tumblr.com)
> 
> Feel free to message me about this fic or any other fandom stuff, Voltron or otherwise.


	2. Homebound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins arrive home

Having managed to macgyver a way to clean himself off and finding a change of clothes, Shiro was presentable when Pidge barged into his room, followed by Allura and the other paladins.

“Hey Shiro, we got you something to eat.” Hunk said as he handed a plate of food to Shiro. “Didn't want to overwhelm your stomach right away, you haven’t gotten to eat much, so I fixed up something light.”

“Thanks, Hunk, I really appreciate it,” Shiro replied, taking the plate of food and starting to eat. The others would have eaten when they landed.

“You've been sleeping quite a bit, Shiro,” Allura said worriedly. “I was wondering if you'd like me to try to transfer some of my energy to you?”

“No princess, I’ll be alright. I just needed the rest.”

“Are you sure you're okay Shiro?” Keith asked as he sat next to him on the bed.

“I'm fine Keith, trust me.”

“Well if it's any consolation, you slept through most of the journey next stop is going to be Earth,” Lance announced

“We're almost home? Already?” Shiro exclaimed with surprise.

“We should be back in about 2 quintants!” Pidge announced excitedly.

“Sounds good. Can you to contact your father from our here, Pidge?”

“Not yet. Earth’s satellites aren't strong enough to reach this far, and I need some kind of signal in order to make it readable for them. We should be in the clear by the time we hit Kerberos though.”

“Great, we don't want a repeat of what happened last time.” Shiro meant it as a joke, but he was exhausted and he just didn’t have the energy to make it land, so there was a bit of an awkward silence. Lance, as was often the case, felt compelled to fill the silence.

“We'll be able to see our families again.” Lance looked between Pidge and Hunk. Although Pidge had found her father and brother, she still missed her mother dearly despite not mentioning it much. Lance and Hunk confided in one another about missing their families. They both had to move away from home to attend the Garrison and so hadn’t seen their families for quite some time. Even though the flight to Varadero wasn’t too long, the flight to Apia could take more than 24 hours with connections.

“Pidge, could you ask your father to get in touch with Lance and Hunk’s families?”

“Yeah sure, but it's pretty short notice to make travel plans isn't it?” Hunk asked.

“I'm sure Sam can figure something out.” Shiro seemed confident in the Commander’s abilities but Pidge wasn’t so convinced.

“Might be tough, we'll be arriving in time for Christmas”

“Christmas already, huh?” Lance got caught up in the thought of not only seeing his family again but also being able to celebrate the holidays and New Years with them too.

“It _has_ been two and half years since we found the Blue Lion,” Keith said quietly.

His words brought silence to the room again. Somehow their time is space hadn’t felt that long, but, in retrospect, all the days and weeks they had spent together while building, planning, searching, and defending, felt like it should have been much longer.

“We should get going,” Allura stated, breaking the tense silence as she moved towards the door.  

“Right, everyone back to your lions. Let's go home,” Keith ordered as he stood, gesturing the other paladins out the door before him. As they left, he stayed standing beside his brother. “You sure you're okay Shiro? You sounded like you were having nightmares again, did you remember anything?” Shiro had to think for a moment. He was certainly not going to tell Keith, or anyone for that matter, the contents of the dream but it _did_ feel like a memory.

“I think I remembered something. But I'm not sure.”

“Something from when you were with the Galra?” Keith immediately became protective, intending to sit with Shiro as he explained the dream, and Shiro noticed. The older male jumped quickly to deescalate the situation and calm down the former red paladin.

“No! It was from before, just something from the Garrison.”

“From Garrison?” Keith was apprehensive so he waited for Shiro to continue.

“Uh, yeah, ever had a nightmare about missing an exam? Ya, something like that.” A blatant lie but who was Shiro to go on about the handsome man sucking him off in a wet dream. Thankfully Keith seemed to accept the lie and dropped the subject. Shiro, on the other hand, couldn’t help but wonder if it was really a memory or if it was just a fantasy his subconscious cooked up from being unable to relieve himself for so long.

“Would you like to sit in the cockpit with me? This planet has some auroras that are really pretty.”

“Ya, I think I’ll join you.” Shiro’s response made Keith break into a relieved smile, and his brother realized just how worried his sibling has been about his health. Shiro hadn’t spent much of the journey awake, let only in the cockpit.

As they took off from the planet, the paladins and their companions could see the dazzling red auroras dancing over the poles. Farther out was a pink and purple nebula, lighting up what used to be a star system that was probably light years away.

“Shiro are you with us?” Allura, followed by the other paladins, came up on the video coms.

“Ya, I’m finally feeling strong enough to watch the stars.”

“I wonder what's changed since we've been home,” Hunk mused, half to himself.

“A year and a half really isn't _that_ long” replied Lance trying to keep the mood light.

“Science is advancing faster and faster, all of Earth’s tech could be completely updated by the time we get back,” Pidge couldn’t help but fantasize about all the new things that could exist, and all of the possibilities of things to learn and relearn, especially with her father on Earth using Altean tech as a launching pad.

“Science may work fast, but companies are still slow, I don't think anything outside of The Garrison would have anything that exciting. You should be fine Pidge,” Keith tried to rein in the green paladin.

“Ahh the slow wheel of capitalism, I did not miss you,” Lance looked off into the distance before turning his camera off and everyone else sank into either comfortable conversation or silence.

Two days later the paladins finally entered Earth's solar system and Shiro couldn't help but feel an odd mix of nostalgia and anxiety.

Pluto was as gorgeous as ever with its pink heart-shaped mark, and Kerberos orbited around it as if nothing had transpired three years ago. The surface of the moon wasn't left unscathed though. A deep trench caused by the Galran tracker beam was etched into its surface, proof of what happened, but who was going to check.

Shiro was lost in thought. It had been three and a half years since he had originally left for the Kerberos mission, and a year and a half since arriving back on Earth, only to be shot back into space. Keith and Pidge had mentioned that Garrison had pronounced him dead, they were probably still saying that after he was kidnapped by Keith. They probably thought he died in the desert. Not like he had anyone waiting for him.

But at this thought, his dreams started flooding back. The gentle smile and tender lips, the deep skin and brown hair, the familiar hands and soft voice. His dreams continued to be plagued by what seemed to be memories from before the mission. This man was a recurring figure but Shiro never got to see his face or hear his name for that matter. He was so familiar yet so strange.

The following dreams weren’t as messy as the first. These dreams felt like living a normal day. But it felt like waking up in someone else's life, with this man in his bed. Sometimes other figures came into his dreams. They seemed to be classmates and other officers and sometimes even Keith. There was even a woman. She felt equally familiar yet new to Shiro but she was never as intimate as the man was. She also had deep skin, but with a mane of curly black hair that was tied up in two braids. While the man was usually naked or wearing a Garrison uniform, she would be in a jumpsuit and covered in grease. Unlike the man, of whom Shiro could hear, her voice was always far away, and Shiro could never see her eyes. The Keith in his dreams seemed to like her and didn’t even mind when she ruffled his hair.

“We're home,” Keith announced as they came into view of Earth. Shiro came out of his thoughts to see blue oceans with and clouds dancing over their home. They were home. “Pidge you got those landing coordinates from your dad?”

“Right here, I'm sending them to your lions. It's on the Garrison grounds, so there will be more than enough space to land. My dad should be there with some trucks so we can actually get back to the headquarters.” Shiro quickly went over his report in his head upon hearing that they’d be going straight to Garrison.

“Don't worry about Iverson, Shiro, you have us, they aren't going to touch you. Not this time.”

“Thanks, Keith.” As much as he didn't want a repeat of last time, he wouldn’t mind if it would help him find the man from his dreams. To be perfectly honest, he wouldn't mind being strapped down again if it were by him either.

The Lions landed without issue in the Garrison quarry. Sam was waiting for them, he had a few other officers come with him so they could have enough vehicles to get everyone and everything back. Two trips are for the weak.

Pidge was the first one off her lion and she launched herself into her father's waiting arms. Sam released his daughter when he saw Keith helping Shiro out of Black. Shiro’s arm hadn't been replaced yet and despite sleeping for what was apparently something close to weeks, he was still looking worse for wear.

“Shiro, would you like me to tell the med bay to prepared a bed for you?”

“No, Commander Holt I’ll be fine. Just tired.”

“Well, I don't believe that for a second, I'll call them. Is this everyone and everything? Let's get all of the stuff packed into the trucks and everyone can pile into the vans, we'll be at headquarters in no time.” Sam had Shiro climb into the front seat of a van while he made the call and the others helped load up the trucks. It took a little ingenuity to figure out a way to transport Kaltenecker and Kosmo safely, but she was a tough cow and Kosmo apparently really liked laps.

“Really sir, this is unnecessary.”

“Better to be safe than sorry, Shiro. Pidge told me the castle was destroyed, so no magic healing pods. I know that after what happened last time you might be hesitant but trust me, a lot has changed at the Garrison. Since we left, and since I got back.”

Shiro ended up agreeing and soon all of their things were packed and they were heading back to the base.

While in the car Sam shared some good news with the paladins. “Lance, Hunk! I was able to contact your families, they should be arriving here in a couple of days.”

“What!? You were able to get them here? This close to Christmas?!” Lance had honestly been expecting the worse. Last minute tickets during peak season were almost impossible to get, especially to and from tourist destinations.

“I had some help, but yes, we managed to work something out.”

“Wait, our whole families? Those tickets must have cost a fortune.” Hunk chimed in his concerns. Samoa was a long flight, so those plane tickets were nothing close to affordable for a whole family.

“As I said, I got some help. Your families are being flown out, and have places to stay, and it didn’t cost them a dime.”

“What!?”

“No way!”

“Speaking of places to stay, Katie, your room is waiting for you at home and everyone else, the Officer and his partner that helped arrange the flights and accommodation for your families, offered to let you all stay with them.”

“No that’s too much.”

“Boys, trust me when I say that they insisted.”

“Do these officers have names?” Keith asked from behind and underneath Kosmo, who was looking very pleased with himself and the position he managed to squeeze himself into.

“Adam and Tori, some of you might know them, although Tori isn’t an officer anymore.”

“Wait what!?” Pidge would have launched out of her seat if Kosmo wasn’t, somehow, also on top of her. “Tori? As in the Garrison’s Tori Hendricks? As in _The_ Victoria Hendricks?!”

“I knew you’d remember her, Katie.”

“Oh my god, we’re going to meet a legend,” Hunk was also in a state of awe.

“Who’s Victoria Hendricks?” Lance asked he wasn't as acquainted with the engineers. Adam was a name he recognized though. 

“Lance how could you!” Hunk was appalled, he was certain he had mentioned Tori at some point when they were still at the Garrison, she was a huge inspiration to Yellow Paladin.

“What did I do!?”

“Tori didn't just design the Kerberos shuttle, she was also the head mechanic for it too. She also holds the record for the highest entrance exam and graduation scores of any woman in the engineering branch of Garrison!” Pidge explained as Tori had also been an inspiration to her. Before the announcement of her father and brother’s “death.” she had every intention of beating Tori’s exam scores.

“Oh, she's done much more since we left. She's been busy, and I’m sure she’d love to see what you’ve been cooking up Katie.” While Sam and the paladins discussed, Keith noticed that Shiro was oddly silent.

“Commander Holt?”

“Yes, Keith?”

“You said we were staying at Adam _and_ Tori’s place?” Now Keith was more than a fan of Adam and Tori, not that they didn’t deserve his praise. Adam was a star fighter pilot and Tori was one of the best engineers Garrison had ever seen, but they were more like family to him, and to Shiro.

When Sam confirmed Keith’s statement, Keith tried to call out to Shiro, but he only managed to let out a whisper, because, at that moment, Keith realized that Shiro didn’t remember who Adam and Tori were and that Shiro thought he was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear up the seating arrangement in the van. Sam is driving, Shiro is shotgun, Lance and Hunk are in the middle row, while Allura, Pidge, and Keith are in the back. Kosmo's butt is between Lance and Hunk's seats and his face on Keith's lap. Romelle, Coran, and Krolia are in another vehicle.
> 
>  
> 
> Comments and Kudos warm my heart! 
> 
> Come say "Hi" to me on [tumblr](https://thehushmonalisa.tumblr.com)
> 
> Feel free to message me about this fic or any other fandom stuff, Voltron or otherwise.


	3. Speed Racer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins meet Adam and Tori

Shiro didn’t hear Keith asking about Adam and Tori, and he didn’t hear Sam’s answer. He was hit with incoherent memories that came to him in flashes. Brief instances of faces, smiles, sunrises in bed, and sunsets over the desert and the distant echo of his name coming from too many directions to count. They were all half-finished sentences of “Takashi”, “Shiro”, “Lieutenant”, “Kashi” and “Taki” that blended together into the amalgamation of white noise that overtook his hearing, and then the white light that joined it.

He blinked his eyes to see the sun had come out from behind a cloud and was reflecting off of the white hood of the van.

“You alright there, Shiro?” Sam asked softly.

“I think the med bay is sounding better and better by the minute.”

“We’ll get you taken care of, don’t you worry.” The rest of the drive was mostly uneventful. The paladins chatted amongst themselves and Shiro took the opportunity to relax as best he could. The paladins were trying to explain some Earth things to Allura but with little success without the actual thing to show her. When they arrived at the base there were two nurses from the Garrison’s medical center waiting.

“Lieutenant Shirogane?” one of them opened Shiro’s door and motioned for him to sit in a wheelchair they had brought.

“I’m alright to walk, but thank you. Please lead the way.” The nurses nodded and they guided Shiro back into base to run a couple tests.

“Where are they taking Shiro?” Allura asked from inside the van when she saw her former Black Paladin being guided away.

“Just to our healing bay, you’ll be able to see him soon,” Sam explained. As the other’s got out, the other vehicles pulled up and Romelle, Coran, and Krolia jumped out of their car.

“When you described Earth, I was not expecting it to be so…dry.” Romelle held a look of disappointment on her face.

“Earth is a diverse place, some places have no water, while others are almost entirely water. Nothing we can do about that,” Hunk shrugged.

“So now that you kids are back, where would you like to first? The Admiral would like Shiro to be present for your report so we have to time to kill,” Sam asked the teens.

“Is mom on the base today?” Pidge looked up at her father.

“Not at the moment no, she was here earlier but was called away. Don’t worry, we’re planning on bringing all of you back home for dinner.”

“Mmmm Earth home cooking. It’s been too long,” Hunk looked off into the sky dramatically at the thought of dinner.

“Commander Holt, I had a question,”

“Of course, Keith, what is it?”

“Can I go see Adam?”

“Actually, that doesn’t sound like a half bad idea.” Sam began leading the group inside after giving orders as where to put their things and animals. Keith walked alongside Pidge and Sam, mostly so the others couldn’t see how panicked he was. He hadn’t even thought about the possibility of Shiro not remembering his ex-fiancé. Tori was less of an issue, but with her and Adam being housemates, she would still be very hurt, so Keith thought he should give them a heads up to the situation.

“Feels like forever since I’ve been here,” Lance said as he looked around the corridors.

“Last time we were here, we were sneaking out, and ended up saving Shiro.”

“Good times.” Pidge rolled her eyes at Lance’s comment.

“Here’s Adam’s office, he’s still be teaching a class, but it should be ending soon.”

“We could wait in his office,” offered Allura.

“Actually, I’d like to speak with Adam alone. If that’s alright Commander Holt.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Ya, but what will the rest of us do in the meantime?” Just then a study room down the hall opened and a cadet came rushing out.

“Whoa, whoa, Da Silva, what’s the rush?” Sam stopped the cadet as he ran by, forcing him to come back.

“Sir! I may have fallen asleep while working on a report and may be late for a vehicle testing Sir!” The cadet was young, maybe around Pidge’s age, and shaking his boots.

“Oh, you’re one of the cadet’s that Hendricks’ team is vetting with the internships, right?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then I won’t hold you back, go on before they find out you’re late,” and with that, the cadet went running down the corridor.

“Hendricks’ internship?”

“It’s a bit of a story for now, but the sparknotes is that Victoria is doing some test runs and she has the cadet’s in the engineering and mechanical divisions observing,”

“Can we watch too?” The chance to see some of Tori’s new gadgets in motion was a dream come true for Pidge, not only was Tori one of her hero's but it would also be a chance to see what Earth was working on.

“It would most certainly kill some time.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” With that Romelle started off down the hall, in the general direction that the cadet went.

“Well, let’s go after her!” Coran announced and jogged down the hall as well.

“They have no idea where they’re going,” Sam and the others went off after them, having to reroute the Alteans after the over-enthusiastic pair lost in the maze of halls, leaving Keith to wait outside Adam’s office. He leaned against the door and tried to come up with a way to explain things.

‘Hi Adam, it’s Keith, I’m alive, Shiro’s alive, kinda? He’s okay and that’s all that matters. We’re fighting in an alien war and fly giant space cats, I found my mom and have a dog…no that sounds stupid,’ Keith thought to himself.

“Keith?” the Red Paladin looked up to see Adam standing before him, holding a stack of reports to grade.

“Hi, Adam.”

“Come on in,” Adam let Keith into his office and put his student’s assignments on his desk. “Sam told me you were all arriving today, where’s Takashi?”

“He went to the med bay.”

“And the others?”

“Went with Sam to watch Tori’s test.”

“Tori’s what?”

“Uhh. Tori’s test? She’s apparently testing something today?”

“She’s…wallahi.”

“Everything alright, Adam?”

“I’ll deal with her later. But what are you doing here Keith? You all didn’t have to meet me till dinner at the Holts.”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“...Alright, what’s wrong?”

Meanwhile, on the Garrison testing ground, the paladins and their Altean companions were standing behind control booths watching the test occur on large screens. There was a single vehicle on the runway.

“What is that?” Pidge tried to figure out the design of the odd vehicle.

“Actually, it’s a bike.”

“A bike with those kinds of wheels?”

“And a built-in practical barrier, a fully retractable armored shell, and omnidirectional retractable wheels.”

“All of that fit into a one-person bike?” Hunk watched in awe as the bike sat in position, waiting for its pilot.

“Oh, there is much more.”

“Commander Holt, we’re about to start the test, if everyone can stand behind the secondary blast shields.” One of the operators announced.

“No problem, Officer Zheng.” Sam guided everyone to the shields. Still in clear view of the screens that showed the driver arrive on the runway.

“Who’s test driving it?” Lance watched the driver mount the bike.

“Actually, Ms. Henrdricks is piloting today,” Zheng said over his shoulder to the paladins.

 _“All clear for test Omega.”_ Tori’s voice came through the coms.

“Ground control copies, running checks now. High-speed cameras?” Zheng started his checklist and other officers at the booth called out.

“Check.”

“Fail safes?”

“Check”

“Fire and ambulances?”

“Check.”

“We’re ready at ground control, Hendricks.”

 _“Ready to commence acceleration test,”_ Tori’s voice came through over the coms.

“We are a go in three, two, one.” The bike launched from the runway at speeds that were almost too fast for the drones to keep up with. The speed of the bike sent a shock wave through the area. On the screen, the small bike raced away with a large cloud of sand being kicked up behind it, ground control would have been completely blind without their drones.

_“Ready for phase two.”_

“Initiating stress test level Omega, on our go.” Zheng gave a hand movement to a cadet, who turned off the coms. He then turned to another engineer sitting with a program opened on their computer. The bike continued down through the desert before turning back at the state border. All of a sudden Zheng barked “Now!” and the bike was suddenly engulfed in a ball of flames. What looked like a bomb was denominated under the bike and the shock wave hit the blast shields a moment after they saw it on the screen.

The paladins watched in horror as lasers, hidden in the quarry, activated and began aiming for the smoke cloud. Even Sam, who has witnessed several of Tori’s tests before, was shocked. The door behind the paladins opened and Adam and Keith came running out.

“Bring me a visual on the pilot, Zheng!” Adam barked orders to the test team, wanting them to turn on the in-cabin camera, a staple for tests like these.

“Sir, we’re under direct order to-”

“Get the coms on now!” the cadet handed Adam a com unit quickly. “This is ground control, Bike Test Omega do you copy!?” static came from the other end. “This is ground control, Hendricks do you copy?” there was more static and suddenly, out of the smoke and sand, came the bike, completely unharmed, with a particle barrier and an armored shell surrounding it. The bikes com system turned back on and the control booth was filled with electronic music and Tori singing along.

 _“I’ll take you to the motorway! Speed speed racer, ooh I wanna take you there! Show you all the fancy cars!”_ The sound of a laser hitting the shell of the bike interrupted the song for a moment but that didn’t stop the driver or the test team, who were chuckling at Tori’s karaoke. _“Can I get a witness! Who can testify!”_ The bike started to swerve out of the way of incoming lasers. The bike avoided them smoothly and Tori continued singing.

“This is ground control, Hendricks do you copy?” Adam asked again, now more exasperated than genuinely concerned.

_“If you wanna leave then I can’t make you stay but I wanna loOOOoove you!”_

“Victoria!” the test team fell completely silent and singing on the coms stopped as Tori sighed before turning off her music.

 _“This is Hendricks from Bike Test Omega, I copy you loud and clear ground control. Ready pit crew for return, over.”_ Tori turned her com back off and cadet da Silva gently took the unit back from Adam.

The Paladins were in a state of shock. The blasts that the bike took should have destroyed it completely, and yet, it was coming in looking the same as before the test. As the bike pulled in the particle barrier went down before the armor shell retracted, revealing the sleek but strong looking bike underneath and its pilot, unharmed. Tori dismounted, pulled off her helmet, and unzipped the neck of her suit while giving some notes to the engineers that were waiting for her on the runway. One of them pointed back to the booth and she ran towards Adam.

“Adam!”

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Adam was furious.

“I was thinking this is the best bike I’ve ever made! Did you see it! Nothing has been able to take that much force yet, at least not without sacrificing handling or integrity.” Tori said with a proud smile on her face.

“You could have gotten yourself killed!” Adam was fuming.

“It’s my bike, I know what’s it's capable of.” Her mood turned sour to match Adam’s tone.

“You are not a pilot Victoria, you can’t just do things like this!”

“Ms. Hendricks, the test was a success, we were able to capture video of the impact and the digital shocks on the bike were able to record it. The armor and barrier took the full force of the explosion and was able to redirect and store it, just like in your tests.” Zheng announced.

“Perfect, get some trained drivers in these things for quality control and approval. Then send the designs off to production. And please Dennis, call me Tori.”  

“I’ll get the driver, Ms. Hendricks,” Officer Zheng said before rejoining the crew.

“How many times do I have to tell the Garrison crew to call me Tori? I’m not their superior.”

“You’ve lost your mind Victoria,” Adam brought his voice down to a whisper.

“And you need to stop underestimating me.”

“Ummm,” Sam coughed awkwardly as the paladins came out from behind the blast shields.

“This seems to be something you two should discuss privately.”

“It can wait, I need to finish up here. I’ll see all of you at dinner tonight.” And with that Tori left and rejoined her team as they started to go over the data from the bike.

“Forgive her, she puts her work before anything and everything else, I’m sure the evil curse will be broken by dinner tonight.”

“That evil curse pays for our home, Adam!” Tori called out from control booth computers.

“Doesn’t mean you’re not a heartless machine!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tori is singing Speedracer by Capyac
> 
>  
> 
> Comments and Kudos warm my heart! 
> 
> Come say "Hi" to me on [tumblr](https://thehushmonalisa.tumblr.com)
> 
> Feel free to message me about this fic or any other fandom stuff, Voltron or otherwise.


	4. Table for Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro gets some rest, the paladins get a home-cooked meal, and there is an unexpected addition to the dinner.

While the paladins were watching bikes race down the test track, Shiro was being hooked up to an IV in the medical bay. The nurses asked a couple questions and took some notes before the doctor came in and did more of the same. They then asked for some tests and an IV. So here Shiro was, laying in a cot with one of the nurses from earlier putting a needle in his hand.

“You’re a little dehydrated but it’s not too bad,” the nurse said as he taped the needle into place on Shiro’s hand.

“Ya, it was a rough journey home,” the nurse looked up at him and smiled.

“Well, it’s good to have you back on Earth, Lieutenant Shirogane. I’ll do my best to get you back on your feet.” He attached the drip and motioned for Shiro to lean back on the elevated bed.

“Thank you.”

“Also, would you like to talk to a specialist about a prosthetic?”

“Umm,” Shiro hadn’t thought about it yet, he had just arrived back on Earth, and he had spent most of the journey back unconscious. He looked down at where his left arm should be before saying, “I think I’ll wait to get a bit more settled.”

“No problem, I’ll let you rest but I’ll be back in a bit. If you need anything just hit the button on the bed.” And with that the nurse excused himself. Shiro relaxed into the bed and with no desire to watch television, and somehow still being tired, he fell asleep.

Shiro was woken up by the paladins, noisily entering the offices. He could even hear the nurses trying to shush them to no avail. A moment later, Lance and Keith barged into the room.

“No, I’m getting Shiro!”

“Guys, we should really be quieter,” Hunk tried, and failed, to quiet his teammates. As Lance and Keith bickered, Pidge ran over to the bed and sat beside Shiro.

“How are you feeling?” Pidge asked as her father walked in and joined her.

“Rested, actually,” he smiled at the paladins as they circled around his bed. That was until the nurse came back in and Krolia made them disperse.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. They were ordered by Commander Iverson and Admiral Sanda to report in about the goings on in space, which was more tiresome than any of them could have predicted. The Garrison hierarchy wasn’t known for being open-minded. By the time the meeting ended, the sun was about to set over the horizon.

“Is it that late already,” Sam said as they exited the conference room.

“I’m getting hungry,”

“Ya, I’m with Hunk on that one, I’m starving,” Lance agreed

“Well, we’re done for today actually. So, we can head home for dinner,” Sam announced. After a full day of excitement and bore, the paladins managed to completely forget about dinner at the Holts’.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Shiro said before leading the group back out to the runway where they piled back into the two vans, but this time with Keith driving the one with the paladins, and Sam driving the one with Shiro, Krolia, and the Alteans.

“Why do you get to drive?” Lance complained from the back seat. Pidge had managed to get the shotgun seat.

“Because I’m the only one with a driver’s license?” Lance couldn’t fight with that actually, so he stayed quiet. They followed Sam’s van to the quiet suburban house.

As they pulled in, Pidge jumped out of the van and ran to throw open the front door. The family’s bull terrier noticed the intrusion first and ran to her owner.

“Bae Bae!” Pidge dropped to her knees as her dog ran around her, jumping up to lick her face and then running around her again, unable to contain her excitement.

“Katie?” Colleen Holt came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel when she saw her daughter and ran to her, falling to her knees to hold her youngest child.

“Oh my god, Mom! I missed you so much!” Pidge hugged her mom as tight as she could and by the time they separated, the rest of the group had gotten sorted out and were coming inside. After greeting his wife, Sam went into the kitchen as everyone made themselves comfortable in the living room.

“Smells good Colleen, and _hello_!”

“Who’s in the kitchen?” Pidge tried to get away from her mom to look into the kitchen, but a moment later her father came back into the living room holding a toddler, bright-eyed and quietly sucking on a pacifier. “Is that a baby?!” If there was anything that confused Pidge more than the wilderness and camping, it was babies.

“A baby!” Lance looked up to see Sam repositioning the tot his hip.

“Who…who’s baby is that?” Shiro was just as confused as everyone else, the child was certainly not Sam and Colleen’s, evident by the child’s dark wavy hair and tan skin.

“This is Karim,” Sam said bouncing Karim a bit, “he’s about 15 months old.” the tot rubbed his eye with a little fist and leaned on to Sam's shoulder.

“And why is he here?” Pidge looked quizzically at the child.

“I was watching him today,” Colleen said as she pulled her daughter under her arm, “don’t worry though, you’re still my baby,” She said kissing Pidge’s cheek.

“May I, Sam?” Krolia stood up from the couch and opened her arms to Karim, who looked at her a little confused but not scared.

“Of course,” and Sam turned Karim to Krolia. The baby reached out to her and she took him into her arms before sitting back down between Keith and Allura. Karim didn’t squirm away but he did pat Krolia’s cheek markings as he studied her face.

“Well, he looks comfortable enough, how about you help me with dinner, Katie?” Colleen said pulling her daughter toward her more roughly.

“Do I have to?” Pidge whined.

“Oh, I can help you Mrs. Holt” Hunk offered, he was pretty excited to get back to an Earth kitchen.

“Perfect! I have another helper, come on you two,” Colleen led the yellow and green paladins into the kitchen and dragged Sam with them as well. “Come on, fourteen mouths are a lot to feed.” And the four of them disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the others with the baby Colleen was watching for the day. Krolia cupped Karim’s cheeks and he leaned into her touch. Krolia found herself almost mesmerized by his green and hazel eyes.

“He’s…actually pretty cute,” Keith said looking over his mom's shoulder. Krolia was trying to appear calm, and the others in the room would think she was. Krolia hadn’t gotten to see Keith at this age, and although there was little resemblance between her son and Karim, besides maybe the fluffy hair, it didn’t fail to bring up an old feeling of regret.

“May I?” Lance asked as he removed his jacket, interrupting Krolia’s moment as she sank into old memories. She was actually thankful to Lance, a moment longer and she might have shed a tear. “Karim? Can you come to me?” Lance held his hands out and Karim attempted to walk and then crawl across the couch cushions and laps before reaching Lance. The tot sat on Lance’s knee with Lance's supporting him as he surveyed the others.

“Hello, I’m Princess Allura,” Allura introduced herself to the child, but Allura seemed as confused with children as she was with Kaltenecker, and she was confused when Karim just looked at her while continuing to suck on his pacifier. “Perhaps he didn’t understand me?”

“He’s just a baby, princess, he’s learning,” Keith said.

“Did Sam or Colleen say whose child this was?” Shiro asked again, as he took a mental note that Lance was a natural with Karim.

“Not from what I heard,” Krolia said as she leaned back into the couch. “Would you like to hold him you two?” Krolia asked Keith and Shiro.

“I’ll pass,” Keith said, he didn’t know much, if anything, about babies and didn’t want to hurt him.

“And you, Shiro?”

“I’ll hold off for now, too.” He motioned to his missing arm.

“Could I hold him?” Coran sat beside Lance and he handed the baby over. Karim took an immediate interest in Coran’s mustache, patting and pulling it slightly. “Well, hello there little fella!” Coran didn’t seem to mind, and he lifted Karim up before bringing him back down. The tot smiled and giggled, Coran seemed quite at home with the baby in his arms. Shiro, on the other hand, was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. He hadn’t been around many babies but he didn’t dislike them, and if you had asked him before everything, he would have said he eventually wanted children of his own. However, something about this didn’t sit well with him. Maybe it was not knowing who Karim’s parents where, so he excused himself to the kitchen, citing that he would try to help set the table.

“This is a Karim?” asked Romelle looking over Coran’s shoulder as Shiro left.

“Seriously? Did the colony not have babies? He’s just a tiny human, his name is Karim.” Lance explained.

“Well, yes, but ours are usually running around and screaming and such.”

“Don’t wish for that! I just got him to settle down!” Colleen called from the kitchen.

“So, who’s child is this?” Romelle asked but before anyone could say ‘we don’t know’ again, there was a knock at the door. Bae Bae was the first one to the door, she ran through the living room, down the hall, to bark at the door; Colleen wasn’t too far behind her. From the living room the others could hear:

“You two are earlier than I had expected.”

“I finished up what I needed to and I convinced him to actually pace himself with marking.” At the sound of the newest guests’ voices, Karim removed himself from Coran’s arms, dropped his pacifier to the ground and waddled in their direction, saying ‘mama’ and ‘babba’. Before he could get out of the room, he was scooped up by Tori.

“My baby!” she said as she kissing his cheeks as he giggled. The paladins looked at one another before Romelle said,

“Well, I guess it’s her baby.” Tori looked up and saw the paladins looking at her in shock. Tori was a young woman, a couple years younger than Shiro, she was also test-driving a bike that Garrison was trying to blow up. She did not give off the general vibe of a mother.

“Keith?” she asked when her eyes landed on the former red paladin. Keith sank into the couch, trying to hide from Tori’s gaze behind his mother.

“Hello Tori, I’m Krolia, Keith’s mother.” Krolia went to shake Tori’s hand, but Keith held her back on the couch, not wanting to be exposed. Krolia had seen Adam and Tori in Keith's memories during the two years. She knew their importance in his life.

“Perfect, he can be your problem from now on, but first, Keith, get out here and give me a hug!” Tori shifted Karim to a hip and held out her other arm for Keith. He reluctantly got up from the couch and did as he was asked. Tori kissed him on the cheek before pulling away to look at him, “Christ, you’ve gotten so big. Also, what the hell did you think you were doing!? You punch Iverson, then you leave without telling us, your dorm was empty, without a note, your phone was destroyed, your bike was gone, and you went off the grid! Keith, I was worried sick about you! Wait until Adam sees you.” The paladins were starting to understand, that despite Tori’s age, and apparent thrill-seeking tendencies, she was very much a mom. If lecturing Keith wasn’t enough proof, then the fact that Keith actually looked ashamed was.

“I already saw Adam....earlier today.” Keith looked even more nervous when Tori frowned. She whipped around and looked down the hall.

“Adam!”

“Yes?” Adam came into the room, put his bag full of assignments down, took Karim from Tori’s arms, and kissed both Karim’s cheeks.

“When did you see him?”

“Earlier, he came by my office before we went to watch your “test” today.” He did air quotes with one hand.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“You were clearly occupied.”

“You could have told me that Keith was there, I have priorities!”

“Not including your own safety.”

“I _was_ safe.” Keith managed to slip away from the two and was making his way into the kitchen when Shiro came out to see what all the commotion was about.

“Shiro, maybe we should go into the kit-” at the sound of Shiro’s name, Adam and Tori looked at the Keith and Shiro standing in the other doorway and Keith trying to push his brother back into the kitchen.

“Taki?” Adam grabbed Tori’s arm to stop her, “Sorry...I mean, Shiro. Do you remember me?” Keith bit his lip at the sound ‘Taki’, an old nickname of Shiro’s, and one his brother certainly did not remember.

“Of course, Victoria,” Shiro said with an oblivious but polite smile, “You were our head engineer for the Kerberos mission,” no one said anything. Shiro wasn’t wrong, she did work on Kerberos, but there was more to their relationship than just being work colleagues and no one that was anything more than an acquaintance or superior called her by her real name. Tori was at a loss for words and she looked at Adam for assistance, but he just shook his head. Keith told him about Shiro’s memory problems when in his office, and Adam told Tori on the way to the Holt’s. They wouldn't be getting the happy reunion they both had wanted.

The silence was dragging on when a timer in the kitchen went off and Sam popped back into the room to announce, “Dinner's ready!” And everyone quickly dispersed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 is written, just needs to be edited. The backstory is gonna start to be explained, so start theorizing as to what's really going on. 
> 
> Also, Pidge's light novel revealed her dog's name is Bae Bae, so that's canon!
> 
> and I'm not the only one that hates Sanda right? This fic isn't going to be taking place at Garrison, like at all. A little in flashback, but they ain't going back.
> 
>  
> 
> Comments and Kudos warm my heart! 
> 
> Come say "Hi" to me on [tumblr](https://thehushmonalisa.tumblr.com)


	5. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron are taken back to Adam and Tori's house, Tori explains some things, and Keith starts opening up to Lance.

Dinner had an unspoken tension about it, but the paladins, being oblivious to the situation, were able to carry on as per usual. There was plenty of bickering and laughing during the meal and everyone helped clean up once they were done. By the time they were done, it was late and everyone was getting ready to leave. 

“Pidge, are you staying here?” Allura asked when Pidge joined the others at the door.

“Ya, this is my home,” Pidge said as she hugged her mom’s side.

“Don't worry, you lot will see plenty of her,” Sam said patting his daughter’s shoulder. “I'll bring her over tomorrow, I'm sure Tori would love to show you what she's working on.”  

“Oh, one hundred percent. Adam is sick of hearing me talk about work, I'd love to have her in my workshop.”

“Careful, she might just take everything you’re working on apart,” Lance teased.

“I will not!” Pidge protested.

“Will too!”

“Hey hey, settle down. There’s nothing wrong with taking things apart. If you can help me improve something I'm working on, then all the more reason to take it apart.”

“I’d also like to join you in your workshop, Ms. Hendricks, ma'am,” Hunk said shyly.

“Of course! You and Pidge are more than welcome to help me tinker with stuff,” she replied with a wide grin. “And Hunk, call me Tori.”

“Alright, I think everyone is good to go, I'll see you tomorrow Sam,” Adam announced, picking up Karim and heading out.

“Bye now!” Adam and Tori guided everyone out to two large cars parked on the street. Unlike the vans they were in earlier, older standard issue Garrison vehicles, Adam and Tori’s SUVs were both massive, sparkling black, and brand spanking new.

“Oh my God, you drive these?” Hunk’s eyes lit up. He used to repair and restore cars with his dad and he could only imagine what it was like to work on behemoths like these.

“I'll take that as a compliment, I made these bad boys.”

“You what!?”

“Why two cars if you were at the Garrison together?” asked Krolia.

“Tori wasn't supposed to go in today,” Adam answered quickly.

“They had an issue with the Bullet Breaker and needed me to take a look.”

“Bullet breaker?” Lance asked as the cars unlocked and doors opened backward.

“The bike you saw me testing,” Tori replied.  “Alright kids, hop in!” The passengers sorted themselves out and Adam and Tori drove out of the suburbs and into the desert, proceeding confidently down a series of unlit, and unmarked dirt roads.

“Where are we going?” Lance asked looking out the window at the open desert.

“Home,” Tori said as they cleared a hill and the mansion came into view, rising up above the fence that surrounded it. The gates opened automatically and they parked the cars on the massive driveway. “Welcome to our home!” Tori exclaimed as she led the paladins in, Adam following behind them holding Karim.

Through the front door, the house opened up before them. It didn’t look like the overly ostentatious house they had expected from the exterior, it looked like an upscale ranch house with high vaulted ceilings, exposed rafters, hardwood floors, and comfy furniture.

“Everyone, make yourselves at home,” Adam said. Karim had fallen asleep on the ride over so Adam went upstairs to put him to bed, leaving the paladins with Tori. She led everyone to the living room, waving them toward a large leather sectional that could fit everyone. Above them, Adam crossed the open landing, taking Karim into his room and getting him ready for bed.

“So, while you guys are here, this will be your home. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, and I mean anything. I'll show you guys around in the morning, but you'll basically have open access to the whole house, just be responsible, especially if you're out in the desert at night. There really isn't anyone around us so it gets dark. Anyways, it's late, so I’ll go over ground rules and all that tomorrow, for now, I’m sure you’re all exhausted so I’ll show you where you’re crashing.”

There were seven bedrooms in the house, one of which was Karim’s nursery. Tori explained that only one guest room had two beds in it and everyone agreed to give that room to Allura and Romelle so that the Princess wouldn’t have to share a bed. Hunk and Lance agreed to share, as did Keith and Shiro, Coran and Krolia both got rooms to themselves. Tori pointed Romelle, Allura, Coran, and Krolia to their rooms on the far side of the landing before leading the others to the side they’d seen Adam take Karim to earlier.

“Keith, Shiro this one is for you two, and Lance and Hunk you’re over there.”

“And these two?” Hunk asked pointing to the rooms in between.

“The first one’s the nursery and then Adam and me.”

“Cool. Come on big guy, let’s check out our room! It’s been ages since we had a proper sleepover!” Lance went off and opened the door to his shared room. “Holy crap it's huge!” The room had a king sized bed, a sitting area, and a fancy en-suite bathroom. Hunk followed his best friend after saying goodnight to the others and closed the door behind him.

Keith opened the door to his room and immediately noticed that it looked quite different from the neutral guest rooms and the simple elegance of Lance and Hunk’s. This room was a little smaller than Lance and Hunk’s but still very large, and also had its own bathroom. There were even pj's lined up on the bed. The room’s dark wood floors and light grey walls contrasted with the scarlet quilt that covered the bed. One side of the room was almost completely taken up by a large window, lined with flowering cacti and succulents, that showed the desert and the starry sky beyond.

“Mind if I take a shower?” Shiro said motioning to the bathroom.

“By all means, there are toiletries and towels in there,” Tori told him, ushering him towards the ensuite. Shiro thanked her before grabbing the larger set of clothes and heading into the bathroom, leaving Tori and Keith alone for the first time.

Keith looked around the room and a frame on the wall caught his attention. He stared at the old axe he’d thought had been lost in the desert when he left Earth so long ago. The axe was surrounded by news clippings as well as a medal and a badge.

“Are these...”

“Your dad’s? Ya, I wasn't able to save much from the shack. By the time we found it, most of it was destroyed by exposure or animals. There were so many lizards.” She shuddered as she remembered opening the door to the shack and almost having a couple fall on her.

“Ya, I fed them.”

“Why?” Tori remembered the 30 odd lizards she found in the shack.

“Dunno...Did you find God?”

“Did I find who?”

“Big, red lizard, kind of grumpy, probably tried to bite you,” Keith smiled softly at the memory of his favourite lizard.

“You named a lizard God?...” Tori looked at Keith, entirely unimpressed by the fact that he not only fed wild lizards but also that he shrugged in response to her question. “Okay, we don’t have time to figure out your reasoning tonight.”

“So...Why do you have all of these?" 

“... I couldn't let them be destroyed, and... well this room is for you.” Tori shrugged awkwardly, she’d never been the best at emotional talks.

“Ya, while we’re he-” Keith said.

“No, forever,” Tori interrupted.

“What?” 

“Keith, come’ere.” He joined her on the ottoman at end of the bed. 

“Keith, before Shiro left, he asked that I look out for you if anything happened to him, that I make sure you were safe and taken care of. But when something did happen, they kicked me out of Garrison.”

“They what?” He asked in disbelief. “But you’re one of their best engineers.”

“Was,” she corrected. “And like you’re one to talk. I got in trouble and I had to leave. They made sure not to let me get access to you. Some bullshit about not being your legal guardian. By the time I got an answer, they said you were gone. I worked so hard just to make enough to get back into the state. I was losing my mind thinking about you going through everything alone because Adam wasn't even talking to me… He wasn’t talking to anyone. When I finally found the shack, it was empty and you were gone. I guess you were up in space, fighting as Voltron, but at the time...” she trailed off.

“That doesn't explain why you'd make this room though.”

“Well, I basically ended up keeping everything I could find. Anything I could tie to you and Shiro I tried to save. I was going to make a memorial for you two, but whenever I tried to actually do it, something felt off and I ended up tearing it down.

“When Sam came back and told us that you two were safe, that you were _alive_ , I knew why I couldn’t make it, so I made a bedroom instead. Keith, as long as I live, as long as I have a home, there will be a room in it for you, okay? You won’t have to worry about anything. You'll always have a family waiting, you'll always have a bed and a warm meal to come back to. If you want to go back into space, go. But know you’ll always have people that love you back on Earth, no matter what.”

Keith looked away in an attempt to hide his tears but Tori pulled him into her arms and he ended up crying into her shoulder as she held him close. Shiro had saved him from the system and become Keith’s brother in the process but Tori loved nothing more than a kid with a discipline problem that was too smart and too grown for their own good. Keith reminded her of herself in that way. She couldn’t thank Shiro enough for introducing the hot-headed kid to her 

“Why did they kick you out?” Keith asked through his sniffles as he pulled away.

“I started a fight with my superior and then set my entire workstation on fire,” She said matter-of-factly as she brushed his hair out of his face. Keith looked at her blankly, eyes demanding a further explanation. “They wanted my designs, and I wasn’t going to leave any of my work with them.” Keith chuckled at the thought of her setting fire to her computer. Tori fought smart but dirty. “I heard you punched Iverson.”

“I did.”

“He deserved it for what they did to you,” she told him proudly as she wiped the tears from his cheeks. “I know you're tired, but do you want something to drink?” She continued, pulling him to his feet.

Keith looked up at his surrogate sister with a watery smile and said, “Some of your chai?” Tori smiled.

“Sure thing Cherry-bomb, come on.” She led him back downstairs to the kitchen. She took a couple kinds of tea leaves and spices out of the cupboard and began heating almond milk in a pot on the stove.

“Tori?”

“Uhhu?”

“You and Adam?” She froze for a moment before adding a couple cardamom seeds to the pot of milk.

“I eventually got Adam to process what happened...what they _said_ happened to Shiro. I managed to get him to open up a bit when I was out of state and then more when I got back. Then we went looking for you and well, you were gone. We ended up supporting one another, he helped me salvage what we could from the shack. Not many people could understand the feeling of failing Tak... Shiro, twice,” She corrected herself, not wanting to use the overly familiar nickname when Shiro didn’t remember why she used it.

“And that just… led to… ” he meant Karim, but he couldn’t say it. The kid was cute, but he knew how much Adam and Shiro loved one another, and how they ended. Adam having a child eliminated the chance of them getting back together any time soon, if ever.

“... Ya. Things just kinda... Happened, I guess. We figured it would be a new beginning. We had stable jobs and a house. I had my company so I could come and go as I pleased. I hired people to help with taking care of the house and the grounds, so we have time. We just decided to let it happen.” Keith stared at Tori’s rigid back in silence, she seemed to be waiting for him to start shouting, and maybe he would have, before everything. Now, however, he didn't want to accuse Tori and Adam of giving up on Shiro, because they were suffering too. They went through a lot alone, and they ended up relying on one another because they didn't have anyone else. They spent all that time thinking that Shiro and he were dead. They grieved for them.

“... Do you love him?” He meant Adam, but a part of him also meant Karim. The Tori he remembered didn't want to have children of her own. She was going to be rich, travel world, teach her sister’s kids how to swear in different languages and how to code a robot to bring them soda. Tori wasn’t supposed to have kids, she was supposed to be the vodka aunt.

“He's my best friend,” she said quietly as she strained the leaves out of the tea and poured it into three mugs. Keith assumed one was for Adam as the two of them almost always had tea in the evening. “And I love Karim more than anything else. Everything he is, and everything I hope I can help him become. I didn’t think I would have had him, but I did.” She handed Keith a mug with a smile and put a second mug beside him before grabbing the third to drink from. “Keith, so much happened and is happening. Adam and I didn't think we'd get to this point, but we're here now. We didn’t think we’d ever see you or Shiro ever again, and here we are. We both love you, and we both love Shiro, even if he doesn’t remember us entirely. We’re here to help no matter what, and this is your home, as long as you want it.” She paused for a moment, “Try to get some sleep, alright?” She cleaned up the kitchen and dropped a kiss on the top of his head before heading out of the room, wanting to give Keith enough time to process things. She was sure he'd have questions but those could wait till morning. Keith looked up and noticed that the second mug was still sitting beside him on the counter.

“Wait, isn't this for Adam?”

“Hm? Oh no. That one's for your boyfriend.”

“My what?” He looked at her confused, but Tori just looked smirked at him. She left the kitchen and he heard her fake surprise as she said, “Oh, hello Lance, there's tea for you in the kitchen.”

Keith groaned, putting his head down on the counter. Tori was going to milk this for all it was worth. Lance was just his right hand, the red to his black. They had a dynamic, and a bonding moment, though Lance still refused to acknowledge it, and that was all. But Tori liked to tease, it’s how she showed she cared.

“Hu? Oh, thanks, Tori. Good night. Oh, wait a second, I had a question. What happened to Kaltenecker and Kosmo?”

“Shit!” Keith could hear Tori set down her mug and run down the hall. She opened a door and the house filled with barking as Kosmo popped into the kitchen at Keith's feet. The barking continued down the hall but Tori quickly shushed it. The silence was replaced by the clicks of claws on the wooden floor before Lance saw three dogs enter the room. One of them sniffed at Lance before deciding they were too tired to care. Lance watched the dogs curl up on the couch before he headed into the kitchen. 

“Good night you two!” Tori called from down the hall before heading up to bed.

Lance was greeted in the kitchen by Kosmo, sitting by his owner’s stool and just staring at him. “Why did you wait till she opened the door? You could have just zapped in.” Lance asked the blue wolf. Keith looked up from the counter when Kosmo borked in response and took a drink of his tea before holding the other mug out to Lance.

“Is it poisoned?” Lance asked taking the mug hesitantly.

“As if Tori would ever poison her tea. Don’t trust her baking though, it’s completely inedible, so maybe leave that to Hunk.”

Lance smiled into his mug and took a sip, finding it still hot and creamy. “This is really good,” he said in surprise.

“She makes it from scratch. She says no one else can make a good chai, though Adam’s is a pretty close second.” Keith went silent and looked off at nothing, he held his mug to his face, letting the steam warm his cheeks.

“Hey, you okay man?” Lance asked.

“Huh?” Keith looked up, startled to realize that Lance had taken a seat beside him without him noticing.

“You seemed pretty out of it at dinner.”

”Just tired. I thought you went to bed?”

“Nah, I took a shower and when I got out Hunk was already asleep. Figured I should come back down for something to drink instead of wake him up.”

“Ah.” It was a hallow acknowledgment.

“Are you sure you're alright, Keith?”

“Just... I have a lot to process,” Keith muttered. Lance was silent for a moment, hoping the black paladin would continue. Keith wasn't one to open up, but Lance knew he was stressed, so he was going to keep trying.

“Hey, let's go outside for a bit, get some air.” Lance pulled at Keith's arm a bit, and Keith complied. Lance led Keith, and Kosmo who was sticking close to his owner, down the hall he saw Tori run down to let the dogs in. They were met by a set of large doors that opened onto a pool and patio area. “Jeez, how much money do they have,” Lance muttered to himself. The patio had a couple lights on but most of the light came from the illuminated pool that was glowing blue.

As captivating as the water was, Lance led Keith over to what looked like an outdoor living area and sat him down on a couch. They sat quietly drinking their tea with Kosmo resting his head on Keith's lap.

“I know you're not one to talk much, especially not to me, but something is clearly bothering you.”

“Lance, it's fine.”

“Keith, buddy, come on. I just want to help,” Lance said, nudging him with his shoulder. “Shiro's in a weird place right now, but you need someone you can rely on. It doesn’t have to be me, just someone, please.” Keith thought for a moment. Lance was right that he couldn't go to Shiro because Shiro only knew Adam and Tori as old classmates and colleagues. He couldn’t go to Tori or Adam because they were kind of the issue, and he really didn't want to talk to his mom about it, and _somehow_ , Lance had become the paladin he was closest too. So... 

He sighed, leaning back on the couch. “OK. I'll explain what's going on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop there it is! Everything is set up. Everyone is in the house, time to drama and lies and unfold! 
> 
> Next chapter Keith is going to explain some backstory of how Tori fits into this story, and also Shiro and Adam's relationship.
> 
> I stand by the idea that Shiro didn't tell the paladins about Adam, he's a pretty private person and these bastards are his kids. So the only one that sees the weird tension is Keith at the moment, maybe Krolia but I doubt she’s as personally invested in this weird domestic drama. They may have raised her boy, but they aren’t her kids ya know? They’re adults.
> 
> Also, Kaltenecker is fine. She'll be back later, she’s in a cow safe area. 
> 
>  
> 
> I’d love to hear your theories as to what the big secret is, there is an actual plot here, believe it or not, it’s just super slow burn.


	6. Let's have a heart to heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith opens up a bit about his time at the Garrison and tries to explain who Adam and Tori are.

Keith and Lance were sitting by the pool in the outdoor living room of Adam and Tori’s mansion in the middle of the desert. The motion sensor lights turned off one by one, leaving the two paladins in the blue glow of the pool and the few lights shining from the house behind them.

“So?” Lance gently nudged Keith’s knee with his own before taking a sip of his tea.

“I…I’m not sure where to even start,” Keith was a little flustered as he tried to collect his thoughts. He was trying to decide what he could leave out, and what he had to say in order for everything to make sense. To be honest, he’d rather not say any of it, but Lance was right, and he didn’t want to have to go through this weird transition alone. With a sigh, Keith started talking. “It started when Shiro got me into the Garrison…”

***

_“I hope you all like it in the simulator. You can thank pilot Fancy-Pants over there for the privilege of spending the three weekends in here running DRILLS!” Iverson shouted in the cadet's faces._

_“Thanks a lot,” James sneered at Keith beside him._

_“My pleasure,” he replied nonchalantly._

_“We all know the only reason you’re here, is because of Shiro.”_

_“I can outfly anyone in this building,” Keith said defensively._

_“Aw yeah, is that what mommy and daddy told you before-” The rest of James’ statement was cut off as Keith’s fist collided with his cheek. A moment later Keith was being dragged off by Iverson._

_In an observation room above the training deck, Adam and Tori looked down at the unfolding events._

_“I wasn’t expecting this much excitement on my first day with the pilots, the engineering kids never get this rowdy,” Tori said watching as Keith got dragged away, still snarling at James._

_“They’re kids Tori, not wrestlers. And those kids are going to get in a lot of trouble,” Adam sighed as he watched Keith run back into the room to punch James again. This time, James retaliated and the two ended up in a scrap on the floor. The instructors ended up having to physically separate them._

_“Isn’t that the kid Taki was talking about? The one from the public school?” Tori asked as she kept her eyes on Keith._

_“And the group home, and the juvie.”_

_“The one that stole Taki’s car?”_

_“The one the only.” Adam rubbed his temple. He didn’t want Shiro dealing with more stress than he needed to, and this kid was already working out to be a handful. Tori clapped her hand on Adam’s shoulder._

_“Good kid,” She said with a proud smile as she saw Keith cross his arms and scowl as he got yelled at._

_“Victoria, you just saw him attack a classmate,” Adam said with an exasperated sigh._

_“Ya, and that kid probably deserved it. Besides, he’s got spunk.”_

_“I think you mean attitude, and it landed him close to the bottom of his class, in case you’ve forgotten.”_

_“So, what? Starts fights, pisses off teachers, but still knows his stuff? Ring any bells?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him._

_“Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, the new Garrison problem student does remind me a little of you,” Adam replied indifferently._

_“Exactly,” she said with a proud smirk. “He’ll be fine.”_

_“The utter lack of discipline and complete disrespect of authority isn’t going to get him far though; didn’t help you much either.”_

_“As I said, he’ll be fine. Take it from someone who used to be ‘that kid’. Taki’ll break through to him, and mark my words, he’ll be running this place one day, maybe something even bigger. I’d bet on it!” She said over her shoulder as she turned to leave the room._

_“And where do you think you’re going?” Adam asked. “Some of these kids are your students,” he said gesturing to the window behind him._

_“I just had an idea, I’ll be right back!” Without further explanation, she ran out of the room. Adam went back to his position at the window and watched as the other students were lectured on proper etiquette._

_Down the hall, Tori saw Keith and James being pulled into the principal’s office by Iverson, with Shiro right behind. Iverson was holding each boy firmly by the shoulder so they wouldn’t reach for another and was yelling at them to not start a fight in the office. Tori ran up and pulled Shiro aside before he could enter the office._

_“Tori? What are you doing? You’re supposed to be watching the cadets,” Shiro kept his voice at a whisper, as he didn’t want to be overheard by Iverson, Tori got into trouble often enough without his help._

_“I know, but I just had an idea about how to help this kid out,” Tori replied in an equally quiet voice._

_“Keith?”_

_“No, Santa Clause. Of course, Keith!”_

_“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Shiro replied in frustration, “but there’s only so much I can do with Iverson breathing down my neck.” Tori pulled out a set of keys and dangled them in front of Shiro’s nose. “What are these for?” He asked._

_“Hoverbikes,” she said with an evil grin. “I fixed up some old, decommissioned ones. They were gonna be scrapped but I got ‘em running like new. Take Keith out for a ride, you know, break the ice a little. You’ll be able to actually talk to him and he won’t be on the defensive like he is in here. Treat him like a person, a kid. Not a student, not a cadet. A kid.”_

_“You think that’ll work?”_

_“He stole your car, Taki! Take him out for a ride, see what happens,” She dangled the keys in front of him again and Shiro took them._

_“If this works, I’ll owe you.”_

_“Ya, sure, whatever. But you break my toys, you fix them. You hear me, Shirogane?” She jokingly poked him in the chest before turning to head back to the observation deck._

_“I promise!” Shiro called after her before going into the office. He had to step back to avoid crashing into Iverson, who was leaving the room at the same moment._

_“Hendricks!” Tori spun on her heel and stood, relaxed and non-caring, before her superior._

_“Yes, Sir?” She asked calmly._

_“Were you watching the new cadets?”_

_“I was asked to, Sir, so yes, I was.”_

_“Take Kogane under your wing.”_

_“Sir?” She was actually sincere about this. She thought Shiro was more than capable of handling the kid all on his own._

_“He’s the reason I asked you to watch today. Sanda has you running the after-hours program for troublemakers, right?”_

_Tori tried not to roll her eyes. She was nowhere near running it. She was just one of the officers in the program, but there was no point arguing with Iverson, at least not now._

  _“She does,” she replied calmly._

_“Then take Kogane. It takes one to know one Hendricks, and you were a tough nut to crack.”_

_“And you still haven’t managed to do it, Sir,” Tori replied with a cheeky grin. Iverson stared blankly at her when any man with less of a stick up his ass would have at least have rolled his eyes._

_“Very funny, Hendricks. Just do something. The kid’s got a chance, but I can’t have him starting fights for every little thing. I’m counting on you.”_

_“Sure thing, Commander,” she said with a half-hearted salute before heading towards the training deck once again. She wanted to help Shiro bond with the kid anyway, besides he could probably use a female role model._

_Later that day, after discussing some options with Adam and Tori, Shiro took Keith out for a race. Aside from Keith noticing his medical bracelet, he would call it a success. He was starting to get through to this kid. As they drove back onto the base, he led Keith over to the garage and motioned for him to follow in his lead and park._

_“Make sure you give those keys back to Tori,” Shiro said as he dismounted._

_“Tori?” Keith asked, puzzled._

_“That would be me.” Tori waved as she walked out of the garage. She stuck her hands back into the pockets of her jumpsuit, the top half of which was unbuttoned and tied around her waist. She wore a standard-issue black tank top underneath and a utility belt hung at her hips. “Hey kid, I’m Tori.” She held out her hand for Keith to shake. Keith looked between her and Shiro, waiting for his mentor’s ‘okay’. At the sight of Shiro’s nod, Keith hesitantly took her hand._

_“Nice to meet you, I’m Keith.”_

_“I know. I saw you punch some brat in the face. Griffin? You clobbered him.” Shiro’s glare was clearly screaming ‘shut up’ but when had Tori ever listened to him, or anyone for that matter._

_“You saw that?” Keith got a little nervous. He didn’t want another lecture, and they’d already told him they’d kick him out if he did it again._

_“I did, your hook could use some work, but you’ve got potential.” Keith’s eyes widened and he looked at Shiro to verify he’d heard right. Shiro’s slightly pained but fond smile told him he had._

_“Keith, this is Victoria Hendricks. She’s a friend and one of the Garrison's best engineers. She’s even heading the ground team for Kerberos. Oh, and did I mention, she was also considered to have discipline issues.”_

_“And then they straighten you out or something?” Keith asked, trying to find the inconsistency in the story. Shiro and Tori just chuckled._

_“Not at all, no.” She shook her head._

_“Then what do you want from me, besides your keys I suppose?” Keith held the key ring out to her but she waved her hand._

_“You keep those. And what they did was give me something interesting to do. Which was putting me in charge of some other discipline cases.”_

_“You’re a narc?” She choked on a laugh._

_“I love this kid! If you’re not careful I’ll steal him from you, Taki. No, I run extra drills, sometimes but hardly ever, detentions, sometimes I’ll even tutor cadets. It all the depends on the kid.”_

_“So, what are you going to do with me?”_

_“Let’s call them... extracurriculars? Don’t worry, Shiro will be there, at least at the beginning. So, whaddya say?”_

_“Do I have a choice?” Keith muttered, scowling at her slightly._

_“Not at all! Your first assignment starts,” she looked at her watchless wrist for effect, “now.”_

_“What!?”_

_“You’re going to be helping Adam and I make dinner tonight,” Shiro answered. Keith stood in disbelief, looking between the two officers._

_“You’re kidding? That’s my extracurricular? Making dinner? I thought it’ll be more homework, or running laps, or extra drills, or something.”_

_“Oh, we can do those too,” Tori grinned. “But first, dinner.”_

_***_

“You were ordered to make dinner?” Lance chuckled at the thought of the delinquent Keith painted himself to be, in a little apron and standing on a stool as he tried to chop vegetables.

“I was, yea,” Keith lingered in the memory for a moment and noticed Kosmo had fallen asleep at his feet. Lance brought him back to reality.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Don’t, you make it sound like I’m good at it. I’m better than Shiro though, I can at least make pasta.”

“Shiro can’t make pasta?”

“He didn’t know you needed to boil it, like in water, so long story short he accidentally lit the noodles on fire. Or that’s what Adam told me when he taught me.” They both laughed, they’re ‘perfect’ leader wasn’t so perfect after all. Keith’s laughter stopped rather quickly when he remembered he was trying to be serious.

“So, what’s the best thing you’ve ever made?” Lance asked, drawing the other boy’s eyes back to him. Keith couldn’t help but notice that the blue light from the pool made Lance’s eyes look like they were glowing, his soft skin shining blue, making him look like some ephemeral creature, and for moment Keith lost his train of thought. He collected himself and thought of an answer to Lance’s question.

“It’s…It’s actually a Korean dessert called songpyeon.”

_***_

_“Keith, Chuseok is coming up, would you like to do anything?” Adam asked as he took away Keith’s empty dinner plate._

_“I’ve never really celebrated.”_

_“Never too late to start,” Shiro offered._

_“Anything you’ve always wanted to do?” Adam asked as he put a cup of tea in front of Keith._

_“I’ve always wanted to try songpyeon,” Keith said quietly after a moment._

_“I’ve never had it,” Adam leaned in, hoping to get more conversation out of the boy._

_“I have,” Shiro mused. “It was at a restaurant though.”_

_“They seem really hard to make,” Keith said, backpedaling frantically. “It’s ok, we don’t have to make it.”_

_“Nonsense, nothing a little research can’t fix” Adam smiled at Keith._

_“So? What do you say? We could make a day out of it.” Faced with Shiro’s earnest words, Keith couldn’t do anything but agree, although he did so hesitantly._

_Adam ended up finding an old family recipe that a mother had shared online, her instructions seemed clear enough for them to follow._

_“Where are we gonna find this stuff?” Keith looked over Adam’s shoulder at the ingredient list._

_“Tori,” Shiro replied. “She can find almost anything.” The next morning Adam and Shiro picked up Keith and Tori and headed out across town to find their ingredients. Some ingredients were sold at fancier grocery stores, but others required a trip to a specialty Asian supermarket, which Tori directed them to with ease._

_“Not many places sell lychee jellies. I need my fix!” Tori said from the shotgun seat when Keith plucked up the courage to ask how she knew where these stores were. “Taki, this next place has your shrimp chips.”_

_“And you never told me?” Shiro exclaimed in indignation._

_“You just ask me to buy them for you when I go!”_

_“You say that like I won’t restock at 2 in the morning,” Shiro huffed._

_When they arrived at the store, Tori grabbed a cart before running in, and Keith managed to jump into it as she sped by. Shiro grabbed a basket and explored the store with Adam. They grabbed some veggies and other ingredients for dinner before wandering into an aisle filled with teas, sodas, and snacks. Tori and Keith were at the other end looking at chips._

_“Bitch!” Tori called out to Shiro from the other end of the aisle, "You want shrimp chips or wasabi Doritos?!”_

_“I’m always a slut for Doritos!” He yelled back. An older woman doing her shopping paused to look at Shiro in disgust before shaking her head and continuing on her way. Adam pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses._

_“I don’t know you two,” Adam muttered under his breath._

  _Down the aisle, Tori threw a couple more bags into the cart, trying not to hit Keith in the process, before grabbing the bar of the cart and running down the aisle. Once they were going fast enough, she lifted her feet, letting the cart carry them to the others._

_“I got your chips too!” She said to Adam as she and Keith zoomed past the two and almost crashed into a display. The cart contained the last ingredients they needed for the songpyeon but was mostly filled by Keith and snacks. Adam looked at the cart and picked up a pack of matcha cookies._

_“These are way too sugary,” he declared as he looked at the nutritional facts on the back of the box._

_“Let the kid live! He’s never tried matcha before!” Tori said taking the cookies from Adam. Adam looked at Keith, who was giving him puppy dog eyes while holding a package of matcha KitKats to his chest._

_“Fine, just don’t eat them all at once, okay?”_

_“Deal!” Keith replied with a grin and jumped out of the cart, taking the cookies from Tori._ _“I’m going to buy them,” Keith declared before walking towards a cashier._

_“He wants to use his allowance to buy them for himself,” Tori explained. Shiro and Adam couldn’t help but smile with pride. They left the store and drove back to Shiro and Adam’s house on base._

_Making the songpyeon turned to be much harder than Adam had anticipated but through a little trial and error, he figured out a fairly decent technique. He showed Keith and Tori how to fold them as he made another batch of dough, Shiro sat at the table and watched._

_“Why can’t I help again?” Shiro asked with a pout._

_“Because of that,” Tori pointed to a misshapen songpyeon with it’s filling spilling out onto a plate. “Same reason I’m not allowed to make the dough,” Although she wasn’t as bad as Shiro, Tori couldn’t bake to save her life. Shiro just pouted again, not liking that he was excluded._

_“Takashi, could you take dinner out of the oven, please? It should be done,” Adam called from the kitchen as he mixed taro powder into the dough. Shiro was all too eager to help, almost jumping from his seat and running to do as Adam had asked. Adam returned with the batch of purple dough and looked over to see Tori and Keith’s plates. “Wow, Keith, yours look beautiful! Good job!” Keith couldn’t help but blush and smile at the compliment. His were undeniably the most beautiful ones._

_***_

“I still think they were making theirs uglier on purpose, but it still meant a lot. The songpyeon actually came out really well, they were better than I thought they’d be. I haven’t had them since...” Keith stopped talking as his voice wavered, quickly coughing to try to hide his emotions.

“Sorry, I didn’t know it was a touchy topic,” Lance said, scooching closer to Keith and leaning into him. It wasn’t a hug but, when it came to Keith and Lance, it was the closest they got.

“It’s okay,” Keith replied with a quirk of his lips. “It’s honestly one of my favourite memories, it’s just that, with everything... it feels like I might not ever get to do it again.”  

Lance took a deep breath, taking in everything Keith had said and trying to come up with a plan to get him back on track. As much as Keith was dealing with a lot of complicated emotions, Lance didn’t want to push him too far. The last thing he wanted was for Keith to regret this conversation and just shut him out even more as a result.

“I have a question,” Keith looked over at him, “was Tori just a friend of Shiro’s from the Kerberos mission?” Lance asked, remembering Shiro’s reaction to her at dinner earlier that night. Keith shuffled and leaned into Lance, telling himself it was to preserve heat as the desert night got cooler.  

“No, she was more. She was an engineering student that got advanced two years and added to Adam’s Garrison team, then she started working on missions with Shiro. They were all pretty close.”

“So, she was friends with both of them. What about Shiro and Adam? Were they roommates or something?” Keith gave Lance a look as if gauging what reaction his next words would cause.  

“They were dating,” he finally said.

“They were what!?”

_**_

_On a Friday night at the Garrison, Keith was in Tori’s apartment on base. Between them was a plate of snacks, and on a screen was The Golden Girls._

_“Why aren’t Shiro and Adam here tonight?” Keith asked munching on a carrot and not taking his eyes off the screen. Tori had made it an “extracurricular” to have a group movie night once a week. Tonight though, it was just her and Keith and they’d decided to marathon The Golden Girls. Keith didn’t mind it being just them, honestly, she was becoming something of a sister to him. Besides, growing closer to Tori meant Iverson wouldn’t yell at him as much. Something about her figuring out how to ‘manage him’._

_“They’re on a trip.”_

_“A trip? Where?” Keith wondered why this was the first he was hearing of it._

_“Some BnB a little south of here. They’re there for the weekend,” Tori replied with a shrug._

_“Why?”_

_“I think Adam was going to propose,” Tori said with a soft smile. Keith stopped eating and turned to Tori._

_“They’re dating?” Tori turned to him and popped a cucumber slice into her mouth._

_“Yea?”_

_“You can do that!?”_

_“Oh, Honey!”_

_**_

“They didn’t really mention it,” Keith said, looking up at the sky. “I don’t know what I thought they were. Best friends or something? I never really asked and no one really said anything. Tori was right though, Adam proposed and Shiro said yes.” The last part of his sentence was quiet, almost lost to the sounds of the night.

“Shiro and Adam were engaged?” Lance asked, wondering why team Voltron didn’t know. Shiro was a private person but a fiancé was usually something you mentioned.

“Yea, they broke up right before Kerberos, something about a fight.” Keith looked into his now empty mug, ignoring the urge to look at Lance and see his reaction. Lance leaned back onto the couch trying to wrap his head around everything he’d learned. He was starting to understand why Keith was so quiet and uncomfortable at dinner.

“So, basically, Shiro got you into the Garrison, and then Adam and Tori helped you stay in. Shiro and Adam were engaged, Tori was their friend. They were all teachers, but Tori was specifically ordered to get you in line. Then Adam and Shiro broke up, Shiro went to Kerberos, was kidnapped by the Galra, and now, somehow, Adam and Tori are together and have a baby?”

Keith nodded jerkily. “That sounds about right.”

“Have you…talked to them about it?” Lance asked, noticing how distressed his friend was because of the situation.

“I tried talking to Tori,” Keith replied. “Asked her how it happened and what not.”

“And?”

“She’s not telling me something.”

**

Meanwhile upstairs, Hunk was awoken by the sound of Tori and Adam arguing. Lance had left their room door open so he wouldn’t wake Hunk up when he got back, but Adam and Tori had started arguing as soon as she opened their door.

A shout of “What did you tell him!?” followed by the door being closed a little harder than necessary. The sound of Adam’s voice woke Hunk up and when he heard the door slam, his curiosity got the better of him. He stumbled out of bed and sat across the hall, near their door, trying to listen in on what they were saying.

“I’m trying to be cautious, Victoria!”

“To what end?”

“Perhaps, no end! Maybe forever!” There was a pause.

“You weren’t going to tell him were you.” It was an accusation.

“Excuse my paranoia, but I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t think we’d be in this kind of situation!” Adam shouted.

“We’ve known that this was going to happen since Sam got back and told us they were safe. I thought you were prepared!”

“And I thought Takashi would remember us,” Adam all but screamed. “I thought Takashi would remember _me!_ ” The silence that followed was a heavy one.

“Adam,” Tori pleaded, “Adam, please look at me.” Another pause, “We didn’t know this would happen, but we also didn’t know they’d be safe, or if they’d ever come back. We can’t know everything. This is what’s happening, this is the reality that we have to live with. Shiro doesn’t remember, but we can help where we’re able to, and we can tell Keith the truth.”

“I’ll think about it,” Adam said, exhausted. ”Let’s get some sleep.” As Hunk strained to hear the ends of the conversation, the two had calmed down and were speaking in hushed tones, he failed to notice Lance, Keith, and Kosmo coming back up the stairs.

“Hey, H-“ Lance started, but Hunk sprung up and slapped his hand across his friend’s mouth.

“Shh! Lance, I don’t want us to get in trouble,” Hunk whispered harshly.

“What’s going on?” Keith asked, matching Hunk’s volume.

“Well, you see-” but he was cut off.

“What are you three still doing up?” They turned around to see Shiro standing in the doorway of his room. Shiro crossed his arm over his chest but quickly realized how weird it felt with one arm, and placed it on his hip instead.

“Nothing?” Keith offered innocently.

“Uh huh, sure,” Shiro replied, giving them his patented ‘disappointed dad’ look. “Bed, all of you.” Lance and Hunk ran back into their room and closed the door behind them, while Keith sullenly joined Shiro.

“Want to tell me what you were doing?” Shiro asked as he blocked the door.

“I was just getting some air on the patio with Lance,” Keith shrugged and tried to dip under Shiro’s arm only to be pushed back.

“That it?”

“Tori made us tea so we washed the mugs.” Keith went under Shiro’s arm again but wasn’t stopped this time.

“Keith?” Shiro watched as Keith took the pajamas Tori had laid out and headed to the bathroom. Kosmo sniffed around the room before getting comfortable on the end of the bed.

“Can I just change so can we go to sleep? Please?” Keith asked, his voice rough and tired. Shiro noticed the dark circle under his little brother's eyes and realized that Keith probably hadn’t had a moment's rest since joining The Blades.

“Alright, no more questions for tonight, I promise.” Shiro let the topic drop and got into bed as Keith went to get washed up and changed. Shiro climbed into bed and shared a look with Kosmo, who just sighed before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

As they lay in bed, waiting for sleep to come, the six conscious inhabitants shared the same thought: this visit wasn’t going to be anything like they had expected.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Keith has a bit of sweet tooth, and according to the handbook he loves fast-food, so look forward to poor life choices surrounding that.
> 
> The Doritos thing is from Incorrect Adashi Quotes on Tumblr, link to the original post here > https://incorrect-adashi-quotes.tumblr.com/post/177699009445/adam-at-a-normal-volume-down-the-aisle-at-a
> 
> The next chapter is the last of which I’ve pre-planned, so chapter 8 might take a little longer to get out just because that’s going to be when things are going to start ACTUALLY happening and I need to do some orchestrating behind the scenes. I know what I want to happen, I just need to figure out how they will happen.
> 
> One day I'll make a blueprint for how this house is laid out, as it's actually pretty important!], today is not that day.


	7. Coffee and Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's an eventful morning

 

The silence of the early morning was interrupted by screaming as Karim made sure the world knew that he needed attention and he needed it now.

In his parent’s room, Karim's wailing came through the baby monitor loud and clear. Adam, who was already awake, quickly muted the monitor and went to tend to his son, thinking it would allow Tori a few more moments of sleep.

When Adam opened Karim's door the cries, no longer muffled by the room, filled the house and managed to wake up some of the others, despite Adam's best efforts to soothe his son.

In the next room over, Shiro was already awake when the crying had started; old habits die hard. Beside him, Keith stirred but refused to wake up. Keith had woken a few times throughout the night due to being too hot, a side effect of sharing a bed with his brother and dog. Eventually, he had found out that wearing only boxers while burying himself under a mountain of blankets was a perfect compromise. In Keith's arms was a plushy hippo, which Shiro had noticed on the nightstand the night before.

“Keith?” Keith only groaned in response. “That's what you get for staying up late,” Shiro chuckled as he ruffled his little brother’s hair.

Keith groaned and pulled the blankets closer, so only his closed eyes and the top of his head were visible. At the end of the bed, Kosmo stretched and yawned before going to stand over his owner. Shiro pet the wolf’s face before Kosmo sniffed at Keith’s face and begun licking his eyes and hair. Keith managed to get out a droney ‘no’ before pulling the blankets over his face. Kosmo retaliated by laying on top of his master, Keith let out a yelp. Kosmo seemed unaffected by Keith’s struggling and so the wolf got comfortable and went back to sleep. Keith, now laying flat on his stomach, with a canine that was bigger than him on his back, just gave up and went back to sleep.

Shiro watched in amusement as the two struggle for a moment before noticing Karim’s crying. Somehow, he’d forgotten where he was, which in and of itself was a testament to how tired he was as the room looked nothing like any other room he had been in, not to mention it was much larger than his room on the Castle. It did take a moment but he remembered he was in Adam and Tori’s home. The home of two of his friends from the Garrison.

He mused for a moment on how they put so much effort into getting this room prepared. The bathroom was fully stocked with soaps, shampoos, and even fizzy bath products, as the room had a large tub, a much-appreciated luxury that they did not have in the Castle or in the Garrison dorms. There was also a fresh set of clothing on the dresser for each of them. Was that Keith’s father’s axe on the wall? How odd.  As the crying persisted next door Shiro got up and decided to get ready for the day.

Perhaps Adam invested in a gym for his mansion. He recalled that Adam was very diligent with his physical training so he wouldn’t be surprised if he did. However, upon realizing he didn’t have gym clothes he figured he’d take a break this morning.

Back in Adam and Tori’s room, Tori had woken up in time to see Adam come back in with Karim, teary-eyed and with a pacifier in his mouth. He handed Karim to her so he could start getting dressed for work. Tori wasn’t going into her office today, she had plenty of things to do with their guests, so she was in no rush to get dressed. Instead, she got out of bed and thought to start a pot of coffee, something she forgot to set the night before.

“Want me to bring up coffee?” she asked when she was half out the door.

“No, I’ll be down in a moment,” Adam answered not looking away from the mirror as he put his uniform jacket on.

“Alright,” she yawned and closed the door behind her as she headed out.

Across the hall, moments before, Lance and Hunk were woken up by Karim.

“Where’s the baby?” Lance said sitting straight up in bed, his eyes not even open yet, but ready to find the source of the crying, a skill he developed after his niece and nephew were born.

“A baby?” Hunk sat up and blearily looked around the room, seeing there was no child in sight his brain finally caught up. “Oh right, the baby. What time is it?”

“Like 6?” Lance answered as he checked the clock on his night table. They both groaned. “It’s too early.”

 _“Want me to bring up coffee?”_ Turns out Hunk and Lance’s room was perfectly placed for eavesdropping and they were able to overhear the last part of Tori and Adam's conversation.

“Well, they’re being surprisingly civil,” Hunk said under his breath.

“What was that big guy?”

“Adam and Tori, they were fighting last night before you and Keith came back.” Lance thought about his conversation with Keith as he looked around the absurdly lavish room and thought that perhaps there was trouble in paradise.

“What were they fighting about?”

“Something about Shiro not remembering and Adam not wanting Tori to say something. Tori mentioned wanting to tell Keith the truth but they never said about what.”

“Hu.” Lance mused for a moment, remembering that Keith mentioned talking to Tori, but that she wasn’t being honest with him. That must have been what they were fighting about, “We should keep an eye on them.”

“What?” Hunk looked at Lance as if he had grown another head.

“I talked to Keith last night, he thinks something is wrong too. He didn’t think Tori was telling him everything and from what you said, she wasn’t, and Adam wants to keep it that way.”

“So, what you’re saying is, maybe Karim isn’t Adam's baby!”

“That she’s trying to protect Adam,” Lance said at the same time. “Wait, what did you say?” 

“Maybe Karim is Shiro’s baby and that's why they’re arguing about telling him! Why would she be protecting Adam?”

“I don’t know, man, but why the hell would you think Karim was Shiro’s? He was in space with us and we've been in space for like 3 years!”

“Lance, I literally just woke up, you can't expect me to have brilliant ideas this early in the morning, it seemed like a possibility.”

“When Shiro was literally galaxies away fighting the Galra? He was probably in the Astral Plane by that point.”

“Okay fine. He can’t be Shiro’s,” Hunk said with a pout. “What do you think is going on then?”

“No idea,” Lance said cheerfully, “but I like a good mystery. You in Watson?”

“Are we Sherlock roleplaying now?” Before Lance could respond and they heard something shatter downstairs followed by Karim screaming again and dogs barking, a moment later they heard Adam running out of his room and downstairs, presumably to help.  

In another room, Krolia, who had also awoken before Karim started to cry, was getting dressed.  

She took a moment to look at herself in a full-length mirror. Like the others, pajamas and a change of clothes had been set out for her. This was the first time she’d worn Earth clothing since she left 19 years prior. She tugged at the jeans, they were a bit tighter and more restricting than she would have liked, but they did fit. 

She headed out, the first of the team to leave their room, and made her way downstairs where she found Tori in the kitchen. Karim sat in a high chair with three dogs, that Krolia didn’t remember seeing the night before, circling around him. Since Tori had her back to the doorway and was pouring herself a cup of coffee, she hadn’t heard or seen Krolia enter the kitchen.

“You have a lot of mouths to feed,” Krolia remarked, as she looked around the kitchen.  

Tori jumped at the noise, her mug slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor, spraying hot coffee and broken glass around the room. At the sound, Karim started to scream and all the dogs stood at attention, barking at the suspected threat of steaming coffee.

“Shit!” Tori reached for a dish towel and threw it on to the spill before tying her hair up. “Sorry about that, didn’t hear you come in.”

“Would you like a hand?”

“Maybe,” Tori answered after a moment’s hesitation.

“Just tell me what needs to be done,” Krolia said slowly. She was a guest in this house, but she didn’t want the young mother to start stressing too much. Tori took a deep breath to steady herself.

“Karim, he’s going to make himself sick from all the crying, could you?” Krolia looked at the baby, scared and crying in his high chair and reached out to him. He was more than willing to be cradled by her, with his face in the crook of her neck as she rubbed his back. His fear faded and he settled comfortably into her arms.

A moment later Adam rushed into the room.

“Is everything alright? I heard something break.” He looked around the room, seeing his son in Krolia’s arms, the baby’s tears already starting to dry up, while Tori tried to simultaneously wipe up the mess and keep the dogs out of harm's way.

“Watch where you step. Can you let the dogs out, please?” She looked up at him from her position on the floor. She had to keep pushing one of the dogs away, the youngest of the lot, to stop him from trying to lick up the coffee.

“Of course,” Adam clicked his tongue and got the dogs' attention before walking out, they all followed him without protest.

The kitchen was quiet again. With the dogs out of the way, Tori made quick work of cleaning up the coffee and sweeping up the glass.

“That’s one way to start the morning, I guess,” she said as she emptied the dustpan.

“Sorry for startling you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tori said, waving her off as she opened a cupboard and pulled out more mugs. She poured another cup for herself before preparing one for Adam and Krolia. “How do you like yours?”

“With sugar,” Krolia replied, still bouncing Karim in her arms. Tori placed the sweetened coffee in front of Krolia. She could see the steam coming off the top and decided to let it cool a bit more before taking a sip. Not that a human would know, but Galra tongues were a little more sensitive to heat.

Krolia looked up to see Tori opening the fridge, and then the cupboards, and then other cupboards, clearly looking for something.

“Adam!” Tori called a moment before Adam came back into the room.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I think we’re out of formula.”

“What?” Adam looked in all the same places Tori did and a few others, but also came up empty-handed. “Crap.” It was the last week of classes and exams at the Garrison and the year-end quarter for Tori’s company. On top of their usual responsibilities, they’d also had to prepare for Team Voltron’s arrival and in the chaos of all of that, they had forgotten to add baby formula to their shopping list.

“I’m going to have to feed him,” Tori said before looking at the clock, 6:30 am, and Adam had to be out by 7. “I also need to make breakfast for the team though, and something for you,” Tori said pointing at Adam

“I can get something at the Garrison, it’s fine.”

“You’re going to be there all day though.”

“We’ll probably order something for tonight, I’ll be fine,” Adam insisted.

“The paladins should be able to help you with breakfast. Hunk is quite the skilled chef, I’m sure he’d be happy to help,” Krolia offered. Karim was getting impatient and hungry and was squirming in her arms. Before Tori or Adam could respond Shiro entered the room.

“I just remembered I need to bring some flight plans in today, I’ll be right back,” Adam said quickly before leaving the room in a hurry.

“Is he alright?” Shiro, kind and oblivious as ever, asked Tori and Krolia.

“Just busy,” Tori said as she prepped another cup for Shiro. “I’m assuming you still drink coffee?”

“Hadn’t gotten the chance, no coffee beans in space,” he said jokingly, taking the cup from her and taking a sip. It’s been a very long time since he’d had good coffee, “and how did I ever survive without it.” The two women chuckled at his enraptured expression.

“Shiro, could you ask Hunk if he’d mind giving me hand in the kitchen when he comes down?” Tori asked. “I need to feed Karim.”

“I’m sure he’d be happy to,” Shiro assured her, “also do you and Adam have a gym?” Tori wasn’t exactly expecting that question so early in the morning.

“We do. I was going to bring everyone on a tour around the house after breakfast. If you’re itching to do something though, there’s some equipment and a jogging path outside. I’m sure the dogs would be more than willing to join and lead you.”

“You have dogs?” Shiro said in surprise, he hadn’t seen them last night, but then again the whole team had been rather tired and unobservant.

“Three of them, it’s like having three more kids, it’s fantastic,” Tori said sarcastically before she drained her coffee and took Karim from Krolia’s arms. Before she could head into the living room though, Hunk and Lance entered the room.  

“Does anyone need a hand?” Lance asked as he entered the room.

“Yes, can you two start breakfast?” Tori replied with a relieved look. Lance wasn’t expecting an answer and was slightly regretting his opener.

“Sure thing!” Hunk was more than willing to help though. The mansion had a massive kitchen and Hunk couldn’t wait to work in it.

“Hunk if you could also whip up something that Adam can take to the Garrison, you’d be a life-saver,”

“Oh, Hunk’s got you!” Lance said with pride.

“Perfect, the kitchen is yours, and Shiro, try not to burn it down,” Tori took Karim from Krolia and they headed into the other room, leaving the three paladins in the kitchen to figure out breakfast.

“So,” Lance said looking between Hunk and Shiro, “Anyone craving anything in particular?”

In the other room, Krolia and Tori sat on the couch, Tori preparing to breastfeed Karim.

“Adam left rather quickly didn’t he,” Krolia said taking a sip of her coffee while giving Tori a knowing side eye. Tori looked at her for a moment before it dawned on her.

“How much do you know?”

“As much as Keith.” Tori raised an eyebrow, Keith hadn’t told her about the two years he spent with his mom on the back of a space whale sharing memories, “it’s a long story, but Adam and Shiro?”

“Uhhhhh,” Tori unbuttoned her silky sleep shirt and let Karim latch on to her nipple, “Ya, they were a thing,” Tori let that thought die, she didn’t want to say anything. If Adam’s reaction last night was any indication as to how thin the ice she was on was, she didn’t want to do anything without coming up with a viable plan.

“Are you going to explain? Or are we going to sit in complete silence as you feed your son.”

“We can talk about other things.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you seem to know a bit of my story, what about yours Mrs. Kogane. What’s your story?”

“Not much of a story really. Crash landed on Earth and met Keith’s father. We fell in love and not long after I was expecting. Shortly after Keith was born, I had to go back.”

“To fight in the war?”

“Did Keith tell you?” Krolia wondered how much information her son was peddling between members of the house.

Tori shook her head. “Sam did when he got back. He told us there was an entire race trying to take over the universe for some kind of perfect energy source.”

“Quintessence.”

“That stuff. I can’t help but think it’s poetic.”

“How so?” Krolia asked none of the paladins had ever compared their race to her own.

“Humans have been doing the same thing for centuries,” Tori explained. “Killing and conquering different sects of its own kind for the sake of oil, gold, diamonds, sometimes even people. Not just for energy, sometimes money, other times greed. Humans like to measure things in dollar signs.”

“I’m not as versed in human history, but I’d like to think humans were never capable of what the Galra is doing”

“You’d be surprised, Mrs. Kogane, but I hope so too.”

“Krolia. Call me Krolia.”

“Alright, Krolia it is,” Tori said it as if she was testing the name on her tongue, “I’m sorry you didn’t get to see your husband again, I can’t imagine how much you’ve been through, but I’m sorry he wasn’t here to welcome you back.” She offered a soft smile to the older woman. Somewhere in there, unspoken, Tori also apologized for Krolia having to leave. Not because it was her fault, but because she couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to leave her son. To be faced with the situation where the only option was to leave for the sake of her son.

“Thank you, Tori.” They sat in comfortable silence as  Tori took out her phone and started fiddling with it as the Alteans came downstairs yawning. Allura led Romelle and Coran into the living and froze when she saw Krolia and Tori on the couch. Lance came out of the kitchen to greet them.

“Morning Princess, Romelle, Coran,” he said, attempting to usher them into the kitchen for food, but Romelle stopped him.

“What are you doing!?” Romelle asked in a scandalized tone as she pushed the princess aside and ogled Tori.

“Checking emails,” she replied not looking up from the screen.

“With the baby?” Coran was the only one who had originally followed Lance towards the kitchen, but he turned back to inspect what Romelle had found so shocking.

“Romelle, you’re kidding right?” Asked Lance, hoping that she was joking but knowing full well that it may not be the case.

“Actually, I’m also a tad confused as to what you’re doing,” Allura said. Lance just groaned.

“I’m feeding him?” Tori answered, not understanding why they would think this was so strange. Krolia hadn’t seemed phased when she’d started to feed Karim.

“How?” Romelle’s eyes got wide and came close to inspect Tori.

“You’re what?” Allura exclaimed as she moved closer as well. Krolia chuckled at the girls’ reaction while Tori rolled her eyes, she was much too tired to be dealing with this and it didn’t help that Coran was also looking at her like some sort of wild specimen.

“Perhaps it’s like wild Isqoaths that feed their young by tying them to their poison glands,” Coran offered. Tori shot Lance a desperate look, clearly begging for help. Lance seemed to be the best at educating the Alteans on Earth matters, so she hoped he would take control of the situation. Thankfully, he did.

“Guys, it’s not that strange. It’s just like with Kaltenecker-” he didn’t get to finish that thought.

“What!” all three Alteans said in unison as they looked at him in horror.

“If you’re going to start a panic then do so in the kitchen and leave Tori and Karim in peace,” Krolia announced, standing between Tori and the ogling Alteans.

“But doesn’t he have teeth?” Romelle said trying to peek over Krolia’s arm, “What if he bites of your qwertox off!” Tori rubbed her temple and checked the time on her phone, 6:50 am.

“He’s bitten me before,” Tori said matter of factly.

“And you still allow him to do this?” Allura asked with revulsion.

“Okay, that’s enough, everyone out!” Krolia ended up physically ushering the stuttering Alteans towards the kitchen. “Lance and I can explain how it all works in the kitchen.”

“Is that everyone?” Shiro asked when he saw the Alteans come in. Lance looked around but saw that they were still one short.

“Where’s Keith?” Lance asked Shiro.

“I’ll get him,” Lance was expecting Shiro to go upstairs and wake the sleepy paladin but instead Shiro stood in the living room, looking at the bedroom door from the mezzanine and shouted, “Keith!”

A moment later there was a flash of blue light and Kosmo appeared, delivering a half-asleep Keith onto the living room floor, just as he had been in bed. Kosmo sat proudly in front of Shiro as Keith, clad only in his boxers, groaned on the floor.

Adam walked back into the room in time to see Shiro petting the large blue wolf and Keith on the floor. Adam muttered something under his breath that Shiro didn’t quite catch before he put down his bag and went to pick Keith up from the floor.

“Come on Keith, I don’t need another baby on my hands,” Adam said, crouching to pull Keith towards him. Keith though, pulled away from Adam to rest back on the floor. Adam sighed and looked up at Shiro.

“Mind giving me a hand?” Shiro hadn’t really thought to pick him up, he was going to take a moment to poke fun at Keith until he woke up enough to realize where he was and what he was wearing, but Adam looked at him with an air of urgency so he helped. They each pulled Keith up by a shoulder and deposited him on the couch beside Tori.

“Aw, my other baby is a disaster,” Tori said as she ruffed Keith’s hair affectionately.

“Mr. Adam, sir,” Hunk popped out of the kitchen, “Tori asked me to make you something for the Garrison?” Adam turned to Tori with a look of ‘I told you no’ but she only shrugged.

“He said it’s fine,” she offered. Hunk held out a bag, with a breakfast and lunch in it, to Adam.

“Thank you, Hunk. You don’t need to call me “Sir”. I’m the same age as Shiro after all, Adam is fine,” he said with a tired smile. Hunk agreed hesitantly and turned to head back into the kitchen.

“Would you like me to pick up baby formula on my way home?” Adam asked Tori as she fed Karim.

“I’m taking everyone shopping today so I can get it. I’m not sure how late we’ll be though.”

“It’s fine, it’s the end of the term and I’m sure Iverson is going to keep us late. Just don’t expect me to be here when you get back,”

“No problem, see you tonight. Karim say goodbye,” Tori patted Karim but he only waved at his father, his priorities very clear.

“Bye-bye Habibi, I’ll be back,” Adam kissed his son’s waving hand before grabbing his bags and heading out. This was when Tori turned back to Shiro, whose eyes were a little glazed over and a look of panic was on his face.

“Shiro?” When he didn’t respond to her, Tori shook Keith awake and went to stand but Karim refused to let go. Hunk, who hadn’t quite left the room, watching Adam say goodbye also had his eyes on their once proud leader. Shiro’s breathing got heavy and Hunk approached him slowly, also calling to him softly.

“Stay away!” Shiro tried to push Hunk back and Keith finally managed to shake off the last holds of sleep in time to reach Shiro before he sank to his knees.

Shiro couldn’t hear, everything felt far away. He heard Tori’s voice telling Hunk to give him space and to get some water, it sounded like an order, was she an officer? He couldn’t remember, he was so confused. He looked up and saw Keith’s face, blurry as if behind a plane of foggy glass.

“I got you Shiro,” is what Keith said as he held onto him. Keith? Yes, Keith was there, he could come back, he had an anchor, and then Keith disappeared and he wasn’t in the living room anymore.

He was in a Garrison break room, his head was pounding and he felt warm as if he was fighting against a blush or an argument or guilt. He looked up and saw Adam, sitting at the counter with his back to him. He wanted to reach out to him. Why did he feel such a strong urge to touch him? Why did he feel so guilty?

“Well, don’t expect me to be here when you get back.” And Adam walked out. Adam left. Adam broke up with him. Adam who was supposed to marry him. He could practically see his dream wedding go up in flames. The guilt he felt before it became a brick in his stomach, his cheeks felt hot and his eyes burned. Was he crying? His chest felt empty. He did it to protect Adam because he loved him. He loved Adam more than anything.

He felt Keith’s arms tighten around him, “I got you, Shiro, I’m here, I’m here and I’m not letting go.” Shiro let himself relax into Keith’s arms. He felt his tears wet his little brother’s shoulder and he weakly wrapped his arms around him as he desperately tried to even out his breathing.

Adam left him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YIKES, this was not supposed to take so long to get out, but I hit a weird writer's block halfway through the chapter where instead of wanting to write I just wanted to read a lot of things, and then my beta and I got swept up into a conference that ate up SO much time. So sorry for the delay! 
> 
> Also, Karim’s actual age is 15 months, I apparently didn’t check my timeline and I guessed it was 18, but he’s 15 months. I’ve fixed the previous chapter but going forward, 15 months is his real age. Lance is also correct, Shiro was in the astral plane when Tori was pregnant. 
> 
> Gonna be real though, I didn’t expect the set up to take more than 2 chapters, and where we are, 7 chapters in, and things are now starting, wild. 
> 
> Also, for those keeping track, it’s currently December 21 in the fic, the paladins landed back on Earth on the 20th.


	8. Holiday Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron head off to the local non-space-space mall to get outfits and some other things for a couple parties.

Shiro sat quietly in the front seat of a car as Keith drove him and the Alteans to the mall. In the car ahead, of them was Tori with the rest of the paladins.

Shiro wasn’t exactly sure what happened after his flashback, but he wasn’t disturbed much and was allowed to rest, Tori and Krolia corralling the others so they wouldn’t bother him.

When he came too, Tori was standing nearby and came over with a glass of water. She spoke in a softer tone than she usually would but he couldn’t hear pity in her voice, which was nice. As she got up to deal with something, a brown Shiba Inu appeared and settled himself as Shiro’s feet. His tag read “Eugene” and had an egg on the other side. Tori explained that it was because Karim called him “Egg”. Shiro chuckled a little at the innocence of that. But Egg seemed steadfast and convinced that taking care of Shiro was also his responsibly and that was something that Shiro was thankful for. The dog was quiet, didn’t move too quickly, and was very soft under his hand, Egg even occasionally licked his palm before resting his face back into it. The dog was a surprisingly calming presence.

So, calming and captivating that Shiro hadn’t even noticed when the others came downstairs, dressed for their mall excursion. Tori quickly directed them onto the patio and ushered them off to explore. The property was apparently a large enough for that.

“Shiro?” Tori called out gently. “Would you like to eat something?” Somehow, he wasn’t anticipating such a normal question but decided he would like something, although he was nervous that his stomach wouldn’t agree with him. “Something small then.”

The smell of the waffles Lance and Hunk had made earlier was starting to waft into the living room and it made everything feel heavy with the smell of cream and sugar; it did nothing but make his head spin and stomach churn. Egg nudged his hand again, recapturing his attention. When Tori returned with a plate of food, the smell was gone. He looked around and noticed the windows were open and bringing in the fresh air of the late desert morning.

He felt safe at that moment, although guilty. He apologized to Tori a couple times for taking her away from her baby, Adam’s baby.

“Don’t worry about Karim, Krolia was more than happy to take him when she went out with others.” He then apologized for the inconvenience of it all, for having to make him a different meal, and having to tend to him and she didn’t reply as quickly this time.

“Shiro, it’s really alright. I’m doing this because I can and because I want to. I want you to know that you have help and that you don’t need to afraid to ask for it.” He would probably stay afraid, but knowing there was a capacity at all to help him was comforting.

What wasn’t comforting was the idea of being in the mansion alone with his thoughts. Krolia was staying behind but to no offense to her, he didn't feel like he could go through this with her. Not that Krolia wasn’t a good leader and soldier, he just didn’t want to confront his thoughts at the moment, and being that house would make him surrounded by them.

He looked out the window, then at the car’s dashboard where a GPS was guiding them to the mall in case they lost sight of Tori, although that didn’t seem very possible, as there was no other car on the road like hers. He tried to listen in on the Altean’s conversation but at that moment, he was just too tired and was grateful for Keith’s silence as well. He could feel the paladin’s eyes on him every little while and knew that Keith wanted to reach out to him, wanted to do something, but instead held his tongue. Shiro was extremely thankful for that because as much as he didn’t want to, he was starting to sink into his thoughts.

Shiro looked down at where his right arm should have been and thought back to the days when it was hard to move it. He thought of all the pain he felt as his muscles started to deteriorate and thought about all of the medication he had to try just in order to deal with it. He wondered for a moment if this new body had the disease too, or if the Galra took care of it. Perhaps he should get tested again, just to be safe.

Or maybe not.

Part of the reason he left was so Adam wouldn’t have to watch him waste away. He never intended to come back really. Kerberos was supposed to be his last mission. He saw the pain in Adam’s eyes when he needed help to get dressed in the morning and when Adam would join him for check-ups only to hear how much worse it was getting, or how few options they had left or how much time he had left. He didn’t want to subject Adam to that kind of life but that didn’t really matter anymore did it.

Shiro was going to go back into space to fight with the Voltron Coalition and Adam was going to stay right here on Earth, and raise a family, without him.

He couldn’t have been happier to not be in the car with Tori and Karim. At the mansion, he just saw his old Garrison friend, the spitfire that helped Keith open up while supporting and defending him and Adam with all her heart. Just his old friend helping when and where she could, that felt exactly the same in the mansion. But now, with no distractions, he was angry at her.

Here he thought that Adam and Tori were just friends, well maybe they were. Maybe things didn’t change until he was gone. He could remember all the eyerolls Adam would give her when she would get Keith out of trouble to only then scold him herself. He didn’t think Adam could ever see her as anything but a little sister, but he guessed that changed after he left too, seeing as they had a son now.

It was a cruel joke to have him stay in their home, it was a worse joke that Tori probably designed the place to her specifications. The entire house of an extension of her. They didn’t know he had forgotten in the first place, so what was their plan? To just show him how happy they were? To have him see that he didn’t have anything to return to? That was just twisted and Karim just made it worse.

As if he needed some quantifiable proof that they had moved on, moved past him. A living breathing, starting to talk and walk around on his own, piece of quantifiable proof. Something that was undeniably Adam and Tori, pieces of both of them in the baby. They made him together, just like the house, just like their new lives together, all centered around the life they brought into the world.

It felt wrong to hate a baby but he did. As if it was Karim’s fault that Adam was taken away from him. As if it was Karim that pushed Adam into Tori’s arms. But honestly, for all Shiro new, that might have been what happened. Maybe Karim was an accident and Adam felt responsible. Maybe he figured it was as good a time as ever to give his mother the grandchildren she wanted. Or maybe this was just what Shiro would like to convince himself of. He didn’t even want to think about how they got to this point as if Karim just magically appeared and changed things, but that wasn’t true.

“We’re here,” Keith announced as they pulled into the mall parking lot and found a spot beside Tori. The Alteans hopped out of the car and Keith turned to his brother, “You alright to go in Shiro? Would you like a second?”

“No, I should be fine. Thanks,” he replied as he slid from his seat. Keith tried not to take the cold shoulder personally. He rounded the car to see Tori handing Karim to Romelle as she pulled his stroller out of the trunk.

“Am I doing this right?” Romelle looked around for someone’s advice but Lance and Hunk had run to the mall entrance where Pidge was sitting on a bench. Sam had dropped her off not long before and she had been hoping to catch up on a podcast before the others arrived, but no such luck. Romelle grew a little more uncertain but Karim didn’t seem to mind. This was until the tot braced himself on Romelle’s chest and then looked up at her utterly dissatisfied. Romelle’s shirt had given the illusion of having a larger chest than she had and Karim wasn’t being fooled anymore. After he figured this out he realized he had other options and reached out for Allura to hold him instead, which she did happily though still uncertain around the small creature.

“Did I do something wrong?” Romelle asked, just as Tori got the stroller and the baby bags in place before reaching for her son.

“I don’t know, did you?”

“He patted my chest and then left me for Allura.” Tori laughed.

“Don’t worry, he’s just a baby, he likes boobs,” she said as she buckled Karim into the stroller and led the others to the entrance. Romelle lagged behind for a moment as she looked down at her chest and suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. When she noticed she’d fallen behind she jogged to catch up with Tori.

“I don’t suppose Earth has things to make my…” she trailed off uncertainly, gesturing vaguely towards her front.

“Chest bigger? Sure, we have quite a bit of stuff actually.” Romelle’s eyes lit up and Allura was sufficiently intrigued. “Would you like to go bra shopping Romelle? We could pick some inserts if you’d like too.” It took a little explaining for the Altean girls to understand what Tori meant by “bra” and “inserts” but after the quick lesson, they were both eager to go shopping. Tori extended the invitation to Pidge who was trying to get her music player back from Lance as he went through her podcasts.

“I’ll pass, I want to see what gadgets they’re selling for Christmas,” Pidge replied, her eyes lighting up at the thought of the Christmas wave of electronics before she snatched her player back.

They all headed in and were greeted by a fountain. Tori set up a time for them to meet up at the fountain before distributing prepaid credit cards to everyone with a generous amount of cash on each. “This should be enough for whatever you guys need. Remember, the important thing is clothes. We’re having a Christmas and a New Year’s party with Lance and Hunk’s families, so find something appropriate for the occasion. Other than that, you’re free to get or what whatever you please. So, enjoy yourselves.” Everyone paired off and Tori gave everyone a cell phone just in case they needed her or one another.

With that, Tori took Karim, Romelle, and Allura and disappeared into the mall, leaving the paladins and Coran to explore at their leisure. Before she left though, she pulled Shiro aside and told him to contact her if anything happened and that her number was in the phone already. He promised to call if the need arose.

He was fairly certain the mall should be fine. Regardless, he chose to accompany Pidge on her quest because she actually had experience in helping him during attacks. Pidge agreed that if something were to happen, she wouldn’t hesitate to call Tori. With that, they also wandered into the mall.

“So, what do you want to do Keith?” Lance asked, to what he didn’t realize was open air. Keith vanished around the time Tori had left with the girls. “Well, I guess he’ll come back eventually. What about you Hunk?”

“Actually, if one of you could accompany me, I’d like to learn what I can about these Earth swap shops,” Coran said, looking around him with great interest.

“I don’t actually need anything but an outfit, so I can go with Coran. Want to join Lance?”

“Pass,” the blue paladin replied. “I have some things I need to get.” They took a moment to figure out what each of their numbers were so they could text if they needed to and headed off.

Lance, of course, was looking for a nice outfit for the parties, but also a new skin care routine and maybe some clothes to train in.

The clothes weren’t hard to find, he found some nice ensembles that he’d reveal at the parties and was slightly worried when he checked out but soon realized Tori had been very generous with the amount she gave each of them to play with. No longer worried about his budget, he jumped to another, more casual, store to pick up some lounge and sportswear. The mansion grounds were even bigger than he’d thought they were and he wanted to actually use all of it, which meant buying something other than jeans.

Next stop was skin care and after a bit of aimless wandering, as he just took in how much the mall had changed since he left, he stumbled upon a K-Beauty store. He hadn’t used a lot of k-beauty products in the past, but he’d heard good things, so he figured he would give them a shot. He also grabbed a large assortment of sheet masks with the intention of getting everyone together for a spa night. His sisters and he used to do them all the time, and it was a good way to unwind. Facemasks, pizza, a movie, and a bit of gossip always made for a good night.

As he checked out, he wondered if Adam and Tori would join them for a spa night. Would that be awkward for them? Would it be weird for Keith to see then al lovey-dovey, curled up under a blanket together as they watched a movie?

As he walked out, he saw a jewelry store advertising special holiday-themed rings and wondered if Adam ever gave Tori one. A thought that led him down a spiral as he realized that he hadn’t seen Adam and Tori share a single moment of intimacy since they’d arrived.

To be fair, this was only their second day here, and they didn’t meet Adam and Tori until last night and this morning was stressful but Adam only kissed Karim’s hand before giving Tori a wave and leaving for the Garrison. Wouldn’t a young, happy father want to kiss the mother of his child goodbye? Would he not want to tell her “I love you” before heading out? Shit, he hadn’t even seen them touch. There were no hugs, no brief touches, no pet names, and certainly no kisses.

Maybe they were just privately affectionate? But Hunk mentioned they had a fight last night. Maybe this was just a really stressful time for them? No. That felt wrong. They worked in high-stress industries, some house guests should be a problem. But wait, Hunk mentioned their fight was about lying and the truth. Did they even trust one another? They had a fight about being honest to Keith of all people, someone they made a special room for in their home before they even knew he was safe. Tori even called Keith her “other baby”. So, if he was like family, what the hell were they hiding from Keith?

To be quite honest, Lance thought they treated one another more like roommates than lovers. Sure, he’d only been around them for half a day at most, but they certainly didn’t act as though they were in love. What if something went wrong? Lance thought. What if something happened?

When Lance came out of his thoughts he realized he was in the food court. He scanned over the room half hoping to find Hunk but came up empty-handed. He did, however, see the back of a mullet and a table full of food wrappers. Keith.

“What is all of this?” he asked as he came up behind Keith, who didn’t jump but instead kept eating…something.

“TacoBell.” Lance looked at the very large pile of wrappers on the table.

“Keith, this is enough TacoBell to kill a horse. Why are you eating it?”

“Ate, I already ate most of it, this is the last one,” Keith said holding up his half-finished, unnaturally coloured taco.

“How much TacoBell did you actually eat?”

“About $60 worth?”

“SIXTY!” Lance looked around to see if that got anyone’s attention, but no one seemed to care, before turning back to Keith, “How are you alive man?” Keith just shrugged.

“I really missed fast food.” With a resigned sigh, Lance set down his bags and sat across from Keith, taking a moment to collect his thoughts and wonder what kind of iron stomach Keith had. “You’re quiet.”

“Just thinking.”

“That’s dangerous,” Keith finished his taco and added the wrapped to the pile on the table before trying to condense it into a ball.

“Hey, shut up.”

“Seriously though, what are you thinking about?” He looked at Keith and could have sworn that he looked a little softer for a moment.

“Do you think Adam and Tori are going to break up?”

“What makes you think that?” Keith asked as he took a sip from a drink that Lance hadn’t even noticed in the pile of wrappers. It looked like sweet tea.

“Well, it’s just that…Keith, have you seen them touch one another since we’ve arrived? If they were in love, wouldn’t Adam have kissed her before heading out this morning? Or are they just private people?” Keith had to think about that for a moment, it’s been a while.

“Not Adam. Adam is pretty open about his affections, he can be subtle, but his tells are pretty obvious though.”

“What about Tori?”

“I’ve never actually seen her in a relationship, or with a person she was in a relationship with. She didn’t really talk about her personal life with me, part of the mentorship thing, but she did use to tackle me in the halls to give me hugs. She really likes to love on people, but I’ve never actually seen her _in_ love though, so I don’t have a metric here.”

“So, would you say them not touching is weird?”

“A little, I’d assume they’d at least touch a little.” They sat in silence for a moment before they were interrupted.

“Hey guys?” they looked up and saw Hunk.

“Uhh, Hunk? Where’s Coran?”

“He ended up in one of those weird kitschy knickknack stores and started talking to the owner, I left after 30 minutes, I have no idea what they were talking about. What about you guys?” and Hunk finally saw the ball of wrappers in Keith’s hands, “is all of that TacoBell?”

“Yes,” Lance and Keith replied in unison.

“And you two ate all of that?”

“No, only Keith ate it,” Lance said blankly, he’d already accepted this. Hunk, on the other hand, turned to Keith with a look of shock and disgust.

“How are you still breathing?”

“I already asked him that.”

“If you wanted Mexican food, I could have just made you Mexican food!”

“But Hunk,” Keith said with a solemn look, “I didn’t want Mexican food, I wanted TacoBell, there’s a difference.”

“Ya and the difference is going to be the state of your intestines when all is said and done. Aren’t you lactose intolerant?”

“And your point?” Hunk couldn’t tell if Keith was a glutton for punishment, or just dumb, but he decided not to think on it too hard.

“So, what were you guys talking about?”

“How Adam and Tori might break up,” Lance replied.

“What, why are they breaking up? They had like one argument.”

“We were not talking about how they’re going to break up, and they had a what?” Keith asked, still sipping his drink.

“I heard them fighting last night. Adam was worried about Tori telling you something he didn’t want you to know, but that she wanted you to know, it was a little messy.”

“Did she tell me?”

“Not what from I heard.”

“So, she _is_ hiding something.”

“Any ideas as to what?” Lance asked.

“Well, it had something to do with Shiro. It was something that they wanted you and Shiro to know, but because Shiro doesn’t remember them, they can’t say anything, and Adam was really upset with that. Oh, and Lance thinks Tori is protecting Adam from something.” Hunk summarized, quickly glancing at Lance to confirm he’d gotten everything.

“And Hunk thinks Karim is Shiro’s baby,” Lance added with a grin, causing Hunk to roll his eyes.

“What? Why? How did you even get to that conclusion?” Keith asked, completely baffled.

“Okay listen, I was half asleep and it the first thing that popped into my head,” Hunk replied, holding up his hands in a helpless shrug.

“Shiro was in space though,” Keith pointed out.

“That’s what I said!” Lance exclaimed, grinning at the boy across from him.

“I wasn’t thinking logically, I was thinking in soap opera logic, which is inherently flawed!” Hunk cried, still trying to defend himself.

“That wouldn’t even make sense.” Keith shook his head.

“I’m aware of that, thank you.” Hunk sighed.

“I mean…what if Karim was though? That would be crazy.” Lance said in consideration, propping his head on a closed fist.

“Again, not physically possible,” Keith stated, annoyance starting to colour his tone. “Why are you pushing this anyway?”

“Well, the kid looks super mixed,” Lance shrugged.

“Ya, so?”

“You don’t think that’s weird?”

“Why would that be weird,” Keith retorted. “Adam is Arab and Tori is Jamaican, god knows what she’s mixed with.”

“Ya, but Karim looks SUPER mixed,” Hunk continued, seemingly having picked up on Lance’s thought. “A little East Asian perhaps?”

“Okay, that’s just racist and how would you know? Honestly, Tori doesn’t even know what she _really_ is, maybe she has some East Asian genes,” Keith said defensively. “The Caribbean has always been a weird melting pot of races. Unless you just happen to know her 23andMe results. Hell, even Adam could be mixed with something.”

“I’m just saying that you know how bulletproof Asian genes can be,” Lance said, shrugging again.

“Them’s strong genes, Keith, they don’t water down,” Hunk nodded knowingly.

“Why are we even humoring this?”

“Maybe Karim is Keith’s son that’s when he’s getting so defensive about this,” Lance mock-whispered to Hunk.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s go find Coran.” Keith scowled as he grabbed the wrapper ball and his now empty drink and stalked off, tossing them into a recycling bin as he passed.

“So, we’re following him, right?” Hunk asked, looking at the retreating form of the other boy.

“Definitely,” Lance replied. Hunk quickly grabbed some of Lance’s bags while Lance got the others and they ran after their hot-headed leader.

When they fell into pace on either side of Keith, he refused to acknowledge them, scowling at the hall ahead.

“Oh, come on buddy, we didn’t mean anything by it,” Lance said jokingly, nudging Keith with his shoulder and frowning when he was ignored.

“Ya, and even if you were Karim’s father, Tori is a beautiful woman and doesn’t seem too upset with you running off into space,” Hunk grinned.

“It’s not mine!”

“Okay, okay,” Lance said, holding up his hands in surrender. “He’s not yours, but even if he was-”

“Lance, I’m gay!” Keith stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at Lance, waiting for the blue paladin to fast-talk this way out of this. But Lance and Hunk were both at a loss for words. “I’m gay, Tori is like a sister to me, the kid is Adam’s, and if you hadn’t noticed, I was also IN SPACE, when she got pregnant.”

Lance regretted pushing such a dumb joke so far. Of course, he knew it couldn’t have been Keith’s kid, he just wanted to tease him a bit. He hadn’t realized Karim was such a sensitive topic. The last thing he wanted was for someone, especially Keith, to have come out like this. Not like this.

“Keith, buddy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was a bad topic,” Lance said apologetically, regretting his actions.

“Well, it was!”

“Keith, please, I’m sorry. I won’t joke about it again, I promise.” Keith mulled over Lance’s words for a moment and took a couple deep breaths to center himself.

“Alright, fine.”

“Okay, now, I think I need to help you and Hunk find something to wear for the party, so how about we go shopping?”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Keith asked gesturing to the tee-shirt and jeans that Tori had laid out for him.

“If I really have to answer that, then you definitely need my help. Let’s go!” Lance grabbed Keith and Hunk’s hands before dragging them to the store where he’d gotten his outfit.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the mall, Tori was trying to help Allura and Romelle navigate Earth lingerie.

“Is this…sexual?” Romelle asked looking at a strappy and rhinestone covered bustier.

“It can be.”

“But those ones are normal?” Romelle said pointing to a wall of less decorative bras.

“Pretty much.”

“As in people wear them every day,” she said, looking for confirmation.

“Some people do,” Tori said with a shrug. “Some people don’t wear anything, but ya those are more suited to everyday use.”

“So, they hold up your-” Romelle made a breast cupping motion.

“That’s correct, yes.”

“Were you wearing one this morning?”

“When I was feeding Karim? No, I was still wearing my sleep clothes.”

“Are you wearing one now?”

“Yep,” Tori replied quickly as she checked a message on her phone.

“Fascinating,” Romelle murmured as she gazed around, fascinated with the intricacies of Earth’s undergarments.

“Hi, would you girls like to be fitted?” A sale’s girl asked as she came over to greet the three of them. Tori gestured for the Alteans to accept the offer and Allura didn’t hesitate.

“This is like when I got fitted for dresses back home,” she told the others with a nostalgic smile.

“I’d assume it’s the same kind of idea,” Tori replied. Romelle, however, slinked back to Karim’s stroller which was just a couple steps behind Tori. “You alright, Romelle?”

“This seems a bit intimate,” she said crossing her arms and shielding her chest.

“Ya, I can see why you’d think that.”

“Is it?”

“Not this no. These people are professionals, they just want to help you find the right size, so you can be comfortable.”

“But to get something, I’d need to get measured first.”

“Well, it would be a lot faster than trial and error, that’s for sure.” Romelle stayed in her position, leaning against a table of lacy underwear as she looked around the store nervously. Allura was being shown around by the associate and seemed to be enjoying herself. Romelle just scanned over the walls until a pink bra with blue lace caught her eye.

“Tori, could…could I try that one on?” Tori followed Romelle’s gaze.

“Sure, you can, just need to figure out your size.”

“and if I want my-” she made another cupping gesture, “-to be bigger?”

“We’ll figure out your band size, and ask for some inserts for you to try on with it so you can see how the different cup sizes fit and feel. How does that sound?”

“And can I get matching bottoms?”

“Panties? I don’t see why not. You can get whatever you want hun,” Tori replied nonchalantly, checking on Karim who entertaining himself with a toy in his stroller. Romelle, having finally shaken off her nerves, was getting excited about wearing the pretty lingerie. Tori found another associate to measure Romelle and help her find whatever she wanted to try on. Tori explained that Romelle would like different sized inserts as well and the associate was more than happy to grab some options for Romelle to try.

“Are you going to get anything Tori?” Romelle asked as she tried to find matching panties.

“Now that you mention it,” Tori said with a grin before zooming around the store putting together a set. She winked at Romelle with her choices in hand. “Romelle, never underestimate the power of nice lingerie, ever.” Romelle nodded enthusiastically before being swept away into the change rooms just as Tori’s phone rang. Allura rejoined her just as she hung up.

“This was an oddly invigorating experience,” Allura said, examining Tori’s choices as well as her own.

“Glad you think so. It might take a while to get used to wearing these, just a heads up,” Tori told the excited girl.

“But they’re so pretty!” Allura exclaimed. It seemed the princesses was too excited to even acknowledge the possible adjustment period.

In another section of the mall, Shiro and Pidge were leaving an electronics store empty-handed. Pidge was disappointed but not surprised to see that the new holiday tech lacked in any interested innovation other than shinier packaging. There was simply nothing worth her time and after a quick call to Tori, she was informed that everything she needed to make something better was already in Tori’s workshop.

So, Pidge gave up her mission for store-bought tech and let Shiro drag her into a store to get an outfit for the parties.

Shiro took a seat and watched as she tried on dress after dress. They were similar to what she would have worn before becoming “Pidge Gunderson” but they just didn’t look the same as they used to. She stared into the mirror, once again disappointed in what the stores had to offer.

“How about a suit?” Shiro offered. From the corner of his eye, he could see the sales associate scratching their head, trying to think of options to show Pidge. They perked up when they heard ‘suit’.

“We do have a couple ladies’ suits if you’d like to try one on.”

“Please bring one. And a nice blouse,” Shiro instructed before Pidge could protest. The associate nodded and disappeared into the store, hunting for a suit that would fit her customer.

“You think a suit would be okay?” Pidge asked uncertainly.

“Well, you said you were going to wear an ugly sweater for Christmas, so you just need something for the New Year’s Party. I’d say it’s up to you.” As if summoned, the sales associate returned with a gray suit and a white blouse. Pidge looked at it with apprehension. “Just try it on and see what you think,” Shiro encouraged. Pidge reluctantly took the suit into the changing room and put it on. And she hated it.

“I hate this.” Shiro was a tad discouraged. “I look like I work in an office.” Pidge continued, staring at the mirror for another moment before taking out her phone and sending a picture to Tori and Lance. Within ten seconds, she had a response.

_Lancey Lance (Blue Trash Man): TERRIBLE_

_Lancey Lance (Blue Trash Man): it’s so bland! You need some colour somewhere. Maybe a black shirt? A colourful suit maybe?!!?_

_Tori: Awful. Ask the store if they have dress shorts._

_Tori: Dress shorts, a blazer with a ¾ sleeve and a black turtleneck. Get the shorts and blazer in a matching print_

_Tori: Send a pic if they find it!_

Pidge waved down the associate. “Do you guys have dress shorts?” She asked, not even sure what she was asking for.

“We do, yes. Would you like to try one on?”

“Uh, ya?”

“In what colour?”

“Uh,” Pidge looked and Shiro but he just shrugged. “In a print?” She asked uncertainly. The associate nodded and disappeared back into the store. “Tori said to get dress shorts in a print, I don’t know what that means,” Pidge told Shiro.

“It’s worth a shot.”

The associate returned with dress shorts and a blazer. Pidge didn’t know what she was expecting, but dress shorts turned out to just be…well, dress pants that were short which was a weird concept for some reason. Even weirder was the print. It was a large leaf pattern? If you didn’t focus on it, it just looked like blocks of white, pale green, and some pink. It was certainly not something she would have chosen for herself but she had nothing left to lose. She grabbed the ensemble, adding a short-sleeved turtleneck she’d already had in the dressing room.

Surprising both her and Shiro, it actually looked really good.

“I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I am,” Pidge said in consideration, twisting her body to see the full effect in the mirror.

“Honestly, same.”

“I’ll take it!” Pidge said to the associate.

“And for you sir?” the associate asked Shiro. He had completely forgotten about getting clothes for himself but finding something for him didn’t take nearly as long. He wasn’t feeling that adventurous and a simple suit was quickly found, though some slight alterations had to be made for his shoulders.

After getting their party clothes, they picked up some everyday clothes for Shiro and grabbed some ice cream to eat while they took a break.

“Where to next?” Shiro asked the youngest paladin.

“I think I saw a tabletop game store around the corner?”

“Itching to play Monster and Mana?”

“As long as you’re not a paladin again.”

“Hey that wasn’t me, that was my evil clone, Kuro.” Pidge almost choked on her ice cream but Shiro just laughed. “I promise I won’t be a paladin this time. Maybe I’ll be the bard and sing my way through the campaign.”

“Please don’t?” Pidge said with a shudder.

“Well, now I think I have to. Do you know what we need? Besides dice?” Pidge thought for a moment before perking up.

“We can just ask Coran cause he’s over there,” Pidge pointed a little down the hall and lo and behold, it was Coran. Pidge and Shiro looked at one another before eating the rest of their cones and running to catch up with the Altean.

The three of them went to the game store and bought handbooks, mats, and dice for everyone. Coran was particularly excited about all of the kinds of dice; the store had an entire wall of them. They spent most of their time picking out perfect sets for the others.

Back at the fountain, Tori, Romelle, Allura, and of course Karim, were waiting for the others to meet them. A message from Pidge let Tori know that she found Coran and that they’d be a little while longer, while another from Keith said that he was with Lance and Hunk and they were on their way. Karim had woken up, so she took him out of the stroller and let him sit on her lap as he played with a toy.

It didn’t take long for the boys to arrive with Keith heading the pack and their hands full of bags.

“Looks like your day was productive.”

“Lance and Hunk thought Karim was my kid,” Keith said nonchalantly, behind him Lance and Hunk looked shocked. They weren’t expecting Keith to rat them out that quickly.

“Gross,” Tori replied, not really listening, as she took some of Keith's bags and put them down by hers. After a beat she looked up at the boys, having just processed what Keith had said. “Wait, why in the holy hell did you think Karim was Keith’s son?” She asked, a little of her Texan accent slipping through.

“We were just teasing Mrs. Hendricks, ma’am,” Hunk tried to defend himself.

“It’s just that Karim looks super mixed is all.” Lance offered, but Tori just looked more unimpressed.

“Alright, first of all, Hunk, call me Tori. Second, gross. That’s my baby brother,” Tori said pointing to Keith. “And third, you realized I’m also super mixed right? My family is from Jamaica, and we’ve got black and Indian and god knows what else.”

“Don’t you have a real-life sister?” Keith asked as he pulled out a pack of maple popcorn from a bag.

“And what of it? She ain’t no kin o’ mine, that’s for sure. Now, why did you text me asking me to pick up your lactose meds?”

“Cuz I ate $60 worth of TacoBell?” Tori just stared at him for a solid couple seconds, purposely drawing out the silence to an uncomfortable extent.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you.” It wasn’t a question.

“I’m sorry?”

“No, you ain’t,” Tori said as she repositioned Karim on her lap and reached into a bag under the stroller, pulling out the medication and a bottle of water. “Drink, so you don’t shit yourself to death.” Keith took the medication and water with a small thank you. Tori just shook her head. “You’re lucky I love you.”

Keith put the bottles back into the bag when he knelt down, Lance noticed an opaque dress bag laying on their bench.

“What’s in the bag?”

“It’s a dress for Mama Kogane for the New Year’s party. I saw it and thought she’d look great in it. Did you boys find something to wear?”

“These two were hopeless, but I got them sorted out,” Lance said with a smirk, nodding towards Keith and Hunk.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Tori told him, more than aware that Keith would wear a black t-shirt and jeans if he was left to his own devices. The next thing they noticed was Pidge, Shiro, and Coran running down the hall towards them.

“Sorry, we’re late! We got a little distracted,” Pidge panted as she came to a stop by the group.

“That’s alright, did everyone get what they needed?” Receiving a unified ‘yes,’ Tori led everyone back out to the cars and they headed home. The Alteans discussed their adventures in the human mall, including the king dressed in red who was greeting the children of his subjects with resounding laughter and small gifts.

As they drove back into the desert to the isolated mansion, they got to see the sun beginning to set over the horizon, painting the sky in bright pinks and purples.

Adam hadn’t arrived back yet, his car still missing from the driveway. Everyone else ran inside and laid out their findings in the living room in an impromptu show and tell. Pidge and Coran distributing the dice was a huge hit. Tori vanished upstairs with Karim at some point, going to give him a bath and get him changed as the others enjoyed themselves.

Shiro took a moment to just survey this team. He relished being able to watch them be young adults for a while, not defenders of the universe, just kids. He smiled to himself, thanking whatever forces looking down on them, blessing them with the chance to relax and not be figureheads at the front of an intergalactic war for a little while.

That was until he heard Karim crying upstairs. The cries were muffled by the door of the nursery, but Shiro was able to hear it underneath the banter of the team and it brought him back to the reality of the situation. He was on Earth, in Adam’s home, Adam’s new partner was upstairs with his son. How long was Shiro going to pretend this didn’t bother him? 

As long as he could manage.

“Hey, Keith?” Shiro called out to the former red paladin who was sitting on the couch with the others going over the Monsters and Mana character sheet Coran had given him. The team were trying to explain each mechanic and how to fill it out. Keith looked up when Shiro called for him. “Join me for a second?” Keith nodded and extracted himself from the couch, handing the tablet off to Pidge.

“Don’t mess with my stats!” He called out over his shoulder.

“Oh, we won’t!” Lance said with a mischievous grin as he had every intention of messing with every stat.

Shiro led Keith out onto the patio, the desert air starting to cool as the sky became more and more colourful on the horizon and the stars started to come out. Keith tried not to remember the little heart to heart he’d had with Lance the night before in the sitting area. Shiro led him to a cabana by the pool though, they sat on the edge and watched as the pool water glowed brighter, reflecting the last light as the sun dipped lower and lower and the pool lights slowly turning on in response.

“Shiro, is everything alright?

“Keith…” Shiro said quietly, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. “I remember.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHHH MAn, this wasn’t supposed to take this long to get out, so I’M WAY BEHIND NOW. 
> 
> Sorry for the delay. Just for context, I’m in the final year of my undergrad so I’m trying to stay on top of work and plan my master’s and whatnot on top of everything else I do (I’m also a model and a cosplayer) so it’s a bit hectic. But I'm still writing! 
> 
> Also, Keith eating all that TacoBell is partly because in the handbook he said he loves fast food, and because Keith from the TryGuys ate everything at TacoBell. It was equal parts disgusting and hilarious, 9/10 would recommend watching, -13/5 would not recommend attempting. 
> 
> And because Tumblr is kind of a shit storm right now, y'all can also find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TinyLevia) where I subtweet about writing this fic a lot. My Ig is in my profile and that's where I'm usually lurking.
> 
> And last but not least, Merry Christmas! I probably won't get the next chapter out before New Years, so Happy Old and New Years too.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos warm my heart! 
> 
> Come say "Hi" to me on [tumblr](https://thehushmonalisa.tumblr.com)
> 
> Feel free to message me about the fic or other stuff, I'd love to hear from you
> 
> ~Levi


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